BHl 



MESSTER 



I' 











KIMBALL WEBSTER IN '49. 



The Gold Seekers of '49 



A Personal Narrative of the Overland Trail and 

Adventures in California and Oregon 

FROM 1849 to 1854. 



BY KIMBALL WEBSTER 
A New England Forty-Niner 



With an Introduction and Biographical Sketch 
By George Waldo Browne 



Illustrated 
By Frank Holland and Others 



Manchester, N. H. 
STANDARD BOOK COMPANY 
1917 






Copyrighted 1917 
George W. Browne 

Pnbl'f slier 

rev II \m 



i 



^ 




DEDICATIOIS^. 

To My Five Daughters, Mes. Lizzie Jane 
Martin, Mrs. Eliza Ball Leslie, Mrs. 
Julia Anna Robinson, Mrs. Mary Xew- 
TON Abbott^ all of Hudson, N. H., and 
Mrs. Ella Frances Walch, of I^ashua; 

AND to the sweet MEMORY OF THAT LOVED 

Deceased Daughter, Latina Ray Web- 
ster, WHO QUIETLY PASSED TO THE OTHER 
SIDE OF THE '^GrEAT DiVIDE,^' l^OVBMBER 

12, 1887, this narrative is most respect- 
fully dedicated by the 
Author 
KIMBALL WEBSTER 



I 






m 




.^ 



.-M' 



W^^^M^'^^.iM!^ ' 



M 



KIMBALL WEBSTER AT EIGHTY-FIVE. 



HON. KIMBALL WEBSTER. 

It is with keen regret and sorrow that we are called upon 
to record the going out of the life of the author of the 
following pages, who has died since work was begun 
upon the book. Mr. Webster was born in Pelham, N. H., 
November 2, 1828, the seventh child and third son of John 
and Hannah (Cummings) Webster. His education was ac- 
quired in the schools of his native town and Hudson, N. H. 
He grew up inured to the hard work upon a New England 
farm, besides working in granite quarries in his 19th and 
20th years. In April, 1849, a little over six months before 
he was twenty-one, with others scattered all over the coun- 
try, he, caught the gold fever. Characteristic of his me- 
thodical ways, he kept a journal of his journey across the 
country and of his experiences as a miner in California and 
land surveyor in Oregon. His experiences in the Land of 
Gold is told in his own vivid language in the following pages, 
and forms one of the most interesting narratives of the days 
of the gold-seekers of the Pacific Slope. 

In 1855, after leaving Oregon, he was employed as a sur- 
veyor and land examiner by the Hannibal and St. Joseph 
Railroad Company in the western part of Missouri. In 
1858 he lived in Vinal Haven, Me., working in a granite 
quarry, but the following year took up his permanent resi- 
dence in Hudson, N. H., where he lived the remainder of his 
long and useful life. Following his leading occupation as 

9 



10 THE GOLD SBEKEKS OF '49 

surveyor and engineer, always active and capable in his 
duties as a citizen, Mr. Webster became a valuable and re- 
spected leader in public affairs, at one time or another hold- 
ing all of the offices in the gift of his townsmen, while there 
were few important committees in which he did not figure 
prominently. Possessing an observing mind, a good mem- 
ory and a logical discernment and summing up of local and 
general matters, he early began to compile a history of his 
town, and after fifty years of painstaking work he had col- 
lected the data for one of the most comprehensive town his- 
tories ever written. He was then past eighty, and it was the 
pleasure of the undersigned to be associated with him in the 
preparation of the manuscript for the printer and its publi- 
cation. During work upon that, his "journal" of the days 
of '49 were examined, and finally he consented to have it 
published. 

He was a Justice of the Peace and had an extensive pro- 
bate practice for nearly sixty years. He was a Mason and 
active in the order of Patrons of Husbandry. Mr. Webster 
retained his mental and physical powers, owing largely no 
doubt to a perfectly abstemious life, until within a short time 
of his decease, which occurred June 29, 1916, being 87 years, 
7 months and 27 days of age. Noted for his sterling quali- 
ties, and having a wide acquaintance, he was mourned by a 
large circle of friends. 

Mr. Webster married, January 29, 1857, Abiah, daughter 
of Seth and Deborah (Gage) Butler Cutter, of Pelham, N. 
H., who survives him, as well as five of their ten children, 
who have married and lived in Hudson. 

G. W. B. 



CONTENTS. 

Chapter 

Biographical Sketch of the Author 
Pioneers of Cahfornia 

I. Tidings of a New Eldorado 

II. Across the Continent 
in. The Overland Trail 

IV. The Humboldt River Trail 

V. The Land of Gold . 

VI. Adventures by Flood 

VII. Life in the Mines . 

VIII. The Illusion of "Gold Lake" . 

IX. Mining on the Yuba River 

X. With Compass and Chain in Oregon 

XI. Homeward Bound . 

Story of the Discovery of Gold . 



Page 

9 
15 
17 
23 
3.3 
83 
100 
122 

n? 
156 

16S 
182 

227 



11 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Portrait of Kimball Webster in '49 


Page 

. Frontispiece 


Kimball Webster in His 85th year 


Opp.p. 9 


Placer Mining in '49. By Frank Holland (fr 


om an 


old drawing) ...... 


17 


Overland Trail. By Frank Holland 




33 


Bay of San Francisco . . . . , 




49 


The Golden Gate 






65 


San Francisco in 1849 






81 


Sutter's Mill 






97 


Mining Scene 






113 


Sacramento City in 1850 






129 


Postoffice in '49 . 






145 


Custom House on the Plaza 






161 


Vigilantes in '49 






177 


Miners Starting for Home . 






193 


Great Seal of California 






209 


Warship Portsmouth. By Frank 


Holland 




225 



13 



14 



THE GOLD SEEKEBS OF '40 



Errata 



Line i6, insert George W. Houston, Joseph B. Gage, 

and Calvin S. Fifield . 

9, read Moore, not moon 

9, read formed, not found . 

19, erase of, and insert on, after mountains 

19, erase s at end of line, and insert r (Fort 

Bridger) ..... 
10, read service berries, not summer berries 
Top, Chapter IV . 

18, spell Winnemucca . 

19, correct spelling of principal 

15, read miners, not winers . 
18, read weighed, not v^^ished 
17, After promised, insert "to release to" 

Top, also line 8, spell protractor 
2"; and 28, read the Pelham camp . 

2, after "The" erase following, and after 

morning insert before starting, 

3, erase leaving and insert learning 
8, at end of line add ship, "Columbia" 

Top, erase "the" between "to" and "commence" 
4 and 7, erase measured and insert meandered 
7, erase compassman and insert campman 
22 and 23, name of river, "Callapooya" . 

16, era<se "have" and insert "had" . 



20 
39 
45 
63 

65 
74 
83 
83 
96 

lOI 

102 
127 

151 
166 

167 
177 
189 
190 
207 
207 
210 

2T6 



THE PIONEERS OF CALIFORNIA. 

The story of the pioneers of all times and all countries is 
one of great interest. In it is embodied the combined ele- 
ments of adventure and patriotism ; the certain forerunner 
of the coming greatness of the land quickened by the inspir- 
ing efforts of the newcomers, usually men of sterling quali- 
ties and unswerving purpose. The history of none of these 
adventurers is fraught with keener interest or more mo- 
mentous results than that of the "Gold Seekers of '49." 

The story of the men who dared and did so much in the 
early days of the discovery of GOLD on the Pacific Slope 
has never been fully told. In the pages of this remark- 
able book we are given in plain straightforward language 
without any attempt at embellishment, by one who 
participated in them, the trying experiences that com- 
prised the adventures and achievements of the hardy vol- 
unteers forming the little army of gold seekers who crossed 
the plains immediately following the cry that awoke the 
land from ocean to ocean as no other word could have done. 

With no Jason to lead them, no seer to prophesy success, 
no wizard to avert danger, these brave Argonauts pushed 
resolutely forward across a continent, traversing thousands 
of miles where the Greek heroes traveled hundreds, passing 
over long, weary stretches of pathless plains, under beetling 
crag5, along frowning chasms and over alkaline deserts, 

15 



16 THE GOLD SEEKERS OF '49 

where the barest sustenance of life was denied them, con- 
stantly menaced by the Arabs of prairie and moun- 
tain flitting hither and thither across their way, enduring 
sickness and privations sufficient to have discouraged a less 
determined body, comrade after comrade falling from the 
ranks, the ever-decreasing band still resolutely marching on- 
ward into the Land of Gold, to become the creators of a 
mighty commonwealth, the builders of states. Through the 
flood of circulating coin that their pickaxes unloosened 
was advanced the prosperity of a nation whose progress 
since has been the wonder of the world. 

In the midst of all of this, and much more that a glance 
at the scenes cannot even suggest, Mr. Webster bore a 
prominent part as pioneer, miner, prospector, and surveyor 
of the new country. With over half a century intervening 
since that far-away day his vivid narrative comes to the few 
now living who participated in the scenes like a voice in a 
dream, while imparting to others the inner story of an era 
in our country's history that forms one of its most impor- 
tant chapters. 

With nearly two-thirds of a century intervening since the 
days when the "gold fever" swept over the country, awak- 
ening steady-going New England as nothing else could have 
done, it is not strange we seldom meet now one of the veter- 
ans who answered the call and crossed a continent in a 
march as beset with dangers as many of a more warlike 
purpose, or rounded a world to pursue the phantom of for- 
tune in a strange land. Very few of the Gold Seekers of 
'49 are living to enjoy the halcyon days of a long and 
useful life. 

G. W. B. 




A Drawing by Frank Holland from a contemporary paintini;. 
PLACER MINING SCENE IN '49. 



THE GOLD SEEKERS OF ^49 

CHAPTER I. 

TIDINGS OF A NEW ELDORADO 

Late in the autumn of 1848 some reports began to be 
received from the new Territory of California, which 
had then lately been acquired by the United States from 
Mexico, that large deposits of gold had been discovered 
there, and that the small resident population had almost 
forsaken their former avocation and had repaired to the 
rich mines where they were reaping a golden harvest, 
.in many instances making large fortunes in a brief 
period. 

These reports were at first almost entirely discredited 
by the people of the United States. Many believed it to 
be some cunning device of interested persons to decoy 
thither immigrants and thereby stimulate the growth of 
that sparsely populated territory. 

During the early part of the winter of 1848-49 these 
reports were in a great measure corroborated and con- 
firmed by official statements from government officers, 
who were stationed on the Pacific coast ; and as early as 
January, 1849, vessels were fitting up in Boston, New 
York and other Atlantic ports, in a manner suited to 

17 



18 THE GOLD SEEKEKS OF '49 

convey passengers around Cape Horn to the New El- 
dorado, as it was then called. 

The Pacific Mail Co. had at the time a line of steamers 
plying between New York and San Francisco, by the way 
of the Isthmus of Panama. These steamers made but 
one trip each way a month. 

As soon as information of a reliable character was 
received in the Atlantic states regarding the mineral 
wealth of California, a large portion of the population 
became more or less excited, and many of an adventurous 
nature were at once determined to leave their homes and 
seek their fortunes on the western slope of the snowy 
mountains. 

The query then arose, which was the cheapest, best 
and most expeditious route to reach San Francisco? 

The long and tedious voyage of five or six months 
"around Cape Horn," though perhaps the cheapest, was 
viewed by many as being almost beyond endurance. 

The route by the Isthmus of Panama was attended by 
difficulties and dangers in crossing the Isthmus from 
Chagres to Panama, a distance of about fift,y miles. This 
journey was performed in boats up the Chagres river, and 
thence by mules to Panama. 

The journey by the latter route from New York to 
San Francisco had usually been performed in about thirty 
days and had usually been considered the better route. 

So great was the rush to California by the way of the 
Isthmus in a short time, or as early as January, the 
tickets by that route were largely sold in advance for 
several trips, and thousands of passengers who had taken 
passage to Chagres were unable to get any conveyance 



TIDINGS OF A NEW ELDORADO 19- 

from there to California, and were compelled either to 
remain at Panama for weeks, and in many instances for 
months, or to return to New York or Boston. 

This congested state of affairs rendered the Mail route 
extremely objectionable. While thousands were waiting 
for a passage at Panama, a large percentage of those 
waiting passengers were sick with the Panama fever or 
other tropical diseases, and many died from such diseases. 

Numerous companies were organized during the 
wdnter with the intention of pursuing the land route 
across the extensive western plains and the Rocky 
Mountains, which was thought could be accomplished 
in from sixty to eighty days. 

It will be remembered that all the country between the 
Missouri river and the Sacramento valley, which was 
called "The Great American Desert," was almost an un- 
broken wilderness. No white people were then allowed 
to settle in that vast territory. 

As soon as I had sufficient reasons for believing Cali- 
fornia to be what it had been represented to be as a gold 
bearing country, I was determined to go myself; and 
after taking a prospective view of the difficulties and 
dangers incident to a protracted detention on the Isthmus 
and the tediousness of a long, monotonous journey via 
Cape Horn, I finally concluded to cross the country by 
land; believing it would be an interesting and romantic 
journey and one not entirely free from difficulties and 
hardships. 

The Granite State and California Mining and Trading 
Company was organized in Boston in March, 1849, as a 



so THE GOLD SEEKERS OF '49 

joint Stock company, with a constitution and by-laws ex- 
tremely strict and precise. 

The above company numbered twenty-nine members, 
principally hale, hearty, strong m.en, who were then about 
to leave their homes and friends to seek their fortunes in 
the newly discovered gold mines of California. The 
names of these twenty-nine men were as follows : 

Charles Hodgdon, Grovensor Allen, Dr. A. Haynes, 
John Lyon, Lafayette Allen, Samuel W. Gage, Joseph 
D. Gage, Thomas J. True, Alfred Williams, Cuthbert C. 
Barkley, Kimball Webster, Erastus Woodbury, James M. 
Butler, Alden B. Nutting, Benjamin Ellenwood, James 
W. Stewart, Jonathan Haynes, Charles W. Childs, Robert 
Thorn, Jacob Morris, Austin W. Pinney, J. P. Hoyt, 
George Carlton, J. P. Lewis, Dr. Amos Batchelder and 
Edward Moore. 

Ten of these men were from the tov^^n of Pelham, N. 
H., as follows : Capt. Joseph B. Gage, Samuel W. Gage, 
Joseph D. Gage, Dr. Amos Batchelder, George Carlton, 
James M. Butler, Austin W. Pinney, Robert Thorn, Ben- 
jamin Ellenwood and Jacob Morris. 

The majority of them were natives of Pelham and had 
always resided there as neighbors. Several of the others 
were from Boston, and a few from other towns of New 
Hampshire and Massachusetts. 

Each member of the company was required to pay into 
the treasury the sum of three hundred dollars which, it 
was estimated, would be sufficient to furnish the neces- 
sary outfit and cover all traveling expenses. 

It was the boast of the officers and many of the mem- 
bers that the Granite State Company would carry with 



TIDINGS OF A NEW ELDOKADO 2i 

them and introduce into California New England prin- 
ciples. Pelham was my native town and although my 
home at that time was in Hudson I was acquainted with 
the larger number of the members from Pelham previous 
to the organization of the company. With the exception 
of the Pelham members they were all strangers to me. 
I was twenty years of age on November 2, 1848, five 
months before we started. 

The officers at the time of starting were: George W. 
Houston, President; Joseph B. Gage, Vice President; 
Edward Moore, Secretary; Calvin S. Fifield, Treasurer; 
besides a Board of Directors. Another company similar 
to our own had been organized in Boston and numbered 
about forty members and was called the Mount Washing- 
ton Company. These two companies mutually agreed to 
travel in company until they should reach California. 

The president of the last mentioned company, Captain 
Thing, having several years previous traveled across the 
country from Independence, Missouri, to Fort Hall and 
Oregon, in company with some of the men of the Ameri- 
can Fur Company, agreed to pilot the Granite State Com- 
pany through to California for five dollars each. 

Some two or three weeks previous to the time of the 
starting of the two companies, Captain Thing and Lafa- 
yette F. Allen of Boston were selected to go to Indepen- 
dence, Mo., in advance of the two companies, with suf- 
ficient funds to purchase mules . and cattle in numbers 
adequate to supply the needs of the two companies in 
their embarkation on the broad plains at such time as 
they should arrive at the above mentioned place. 

The necessary arrangements having all been matured 



22 • THE GOLD SEEKERS OF '49 

and the members having provided themselves with guns, 
pistols or revolvers, bowie-knives, and a plenty of pow- 
der, lead, caps, together with such other articles as they 
thought they might need on their long journey and after 
they should arrive at the "New Eldorado," we started on 
our long journey. 



CHAPTER 11. 
across the continent. 

Tuesday, April 17, 1849. 

We left Boston this morning at about 8 o'clock for 
Albany, by way of the Western Railroad. 

After shaking hands and bidding such of our friends 
as had gathered at the station a good-bye, we seated our- 
selves in the cars, and as they began to move, the specta- 
tors that had gathered in and around the station sent up 
three most hearty cheers for the California adventurers ; 
and they were very readily and heartily returned by us, 
while we were started on our way with railroad speed 
toward the land of gold. 

We had a special car into which no intruder was 
allowed to trespass, and I believe a more jolly company 
of men has seldom been found. We arrived at Spring- 
field, Mass., at about noon where we were fortunate in 
procuring a fine dinner, to which all did ample justice. 
After we had eaten we were soon on our way again. 

We arrived at Greenbush, N. Y., before night, where 
v^^e had some little trouble with the baggage master about 
procuring our trunks, which had been checked at Boston, 
as we had failed to procure the corresponding checks. 
However, after some little dispute he gave them up and 
we took the ferry boat for Albany on the opposite side 
of the Hudson. 

2S 



24 THE GOLD SEEKERS OE '49 

It will be remembered that at that time no railroad 
bridge spanned the Hudson River. Everything had to 
be ferried over. At Albany we took our quarters at the 
Mansion House. 

I will here mention that on the road today we fell in 
with George W. Houston, our president, who had started 
in advance of the company for the purpose, as it was 
said, of evading some officers who were in pursuit of him 
for the object of detaining him until such time as he 
should be able to liquidate some obligations. 

Wednesday, April i8. 

We left Albany at 12:30 p. m. in an immigrant train 
for Buffalo. At Schenectady, about twenty miles from 
Albany, we were detained two or three hours, waiting 
for the passenger train to pass us. The fare by the im- 
migrant train was considerably less but we soon dis- 
covered that it was a slow and tedious experience of 
travel, it being very slov^^ It was nearly night when we 
left Schenectady and proceeded slowly on our way. The 
night was cold and stormy — disagreeable in the extreme. 

Some five or six inches of snow fell during the night, 
and there being no fires in the cars, or no place to lie 
down and nothing to eat, it was a very long, tedious 
night. 

The night passed slowly away, and we arrived safely 
at Rochester at about 10 o'clock on the 19th; when, after 
refreshing ourselves with a good dinner, we crossed the 
Genesee River and took a view of the falls bearing the 
same name. 

Near the middle of the channel is a high projecting 



ACROSS THE CONTINENT 25 

point of rocks, where the celebrated Sam Patch is said 
to have taken his last jump in presence of a large multi- 
tude of spectators ; and it was said that he was never 
afterward seen. His motto was : "Some things may be 
done as well as others." 

Rochester has very excellent water power, and can 
boast of some of the best flouring mills in the world. 

Left Rochester at one o'clock, by the express train, for 
Buffalo, at which place we arrived at five o'clock p. m., 
and put up at Bennett's Temperance Hotel, where we 
found a very fine hotel and good accommodations. 

Friday, April 20. 

There being no steamers going west from Buffalo to- 
day, we were compelled to await another day for a pas- 
sage. 

A railroad had been built and opened from Buffalo 
to Niagara Falls, a distance of twenty-two miles. The 
larger number of the company took this trip and went 
to the celebrated Falls, as a pleasant manner of passing 
the few hours that we were compelled to wait. We left 
Buffalo at two o'clock and rode twenty-two miles over 
a very rough and uneven railroad, and arrived at the Falls 
at about three o'clock. 

On my arrival at the cataract, I descended the lofty 
flight of stone steps numbering 290 — crossed the river 
in a yawl boat to the Canada side — a short distance below 
the Falls; went under the sheet of water at Table Rock, 
where I found a very damp atmosphere caused by the 
rising spray — so very damp that I soon became completely 
saturated. 



^6 THE GOLD SEEKERS OF '49 

I then went to the Suspension Bridge about two miles 
below the Falls, and there recrossed the river. 

This bridge had been built the year previous, and was 
largely an experiment. It was a foot bridge suspended 
by wire cables and stood 230 feet above the water. It 
was about eight feet wide. 

It seems useless for me to attempt a description of 
Niagara Falls. To be fully appreciated it must be seen. 
It is certainly one of Nature's wonderful curiosities. 

Saturday, April 21. 

We left Buffalo at 11 o'clock, a. m., in the elegant, first- 
class steamer Canada, for Detroit, Michigan, with pleas- 
ant weather and a smooth lake. 

The weather continued fine until about five o'clock, 
when it commenced raining, and the lake became some- 
what rough. 

Sunday, April 22. 

The weather today has been very fine. 

At 7 o'clock we landed at Amherstbury, Canada, near 
the mouth of the Detroit River; and at nine, landed at 
the wharf at Detroit. 

Detroit is situated on the west bank of the river bearing 
the same name, about twenty miles above Lake Erie. It 
rises gradually from the river and is a very pleasantly 
situated city. In the forenoon I attended the Congrega- 
tional Church, where Vv^e heard an eloquent sermon by an 
able divine. 

In the afternoon I visited Windsor, Canada, situated 
on the east side of Detroit River. This place contains 



ACEOSS THE CONTINENT ^7 

an old Jesuit church said to be more than one hundred 
and fifty years old, and built by early French settlers. 

In the evening a few of the Pelham boys visited Gen. 
Lewis W. Cass at his elegant residence. We found Mr. 
Cass at home, to whom we introduced ourselves. He was 
a native of New Hampshire, and formerly had his home 
there. He received us with the greatest cordiality and 
respect, wishing us the greatest success in our enterprise, 
and expressing a desire to accompany us himself. 

We remain aboard the Canada tonight. 

Monday, April 23. 

We left Detroit at 7 130 this morning by the Michigan 
Central Railroad for New Buffalo, a small village on the 
eastern shore of Lake Michigan, near the line between 
the states of Michigan and Indiana. The country border- 
ing on this road is principally very heavily timbered 
with oak, elm, hickory, ash, sycamore and other species. 
The houses are mostly small "log cabins." 

The soil is fertile but somewhat low and moist, and is 
said to be well adapted to the propagation of the "shakes." 

We arrived at New Buffalo at 7 :^o in the evening, and 
we intended to have taken the steamer for Chicago im- 
■mediately, but the harbor being so much exposed and the 
lake so very rough, it was impossible for the boat to 
make a landing at the wharf with safety. Consequently, 
we were compelled to await such time as the waters 
should become more calm. At that time the railroad had 
not been constructed around the south side of Lake 
Michigan into Chicago. 

This was a new^ly constructed place and but a small 



28 THE GOLD SEEKERS OF '49 

village at that; and as passengers usually embarked for 
Chicago almost immediately on their arrival here, the 
people had made no preparation to accommodate people 
over night. They had no accommodations to furnish 
lodgings or meals in so large numbers, and we were un- 
able to obtain either. We were obliged to content our- 
selves in the cars during the night. 

The night seemed long, cold and disagreeable, but at 
length it passed away. 

Tuesday, April 24. 

The weather this morning was very cold and windy. 
The steamer from Chicago landed at the wharf at about 
9 o'clock this morning, but, owing to the rough state oi 
the lake, she had not lain at the wharf over two or three 
minutes before she parted her large hawser, and imme- 
diately left for Chicago, without her passengers. 

At about ten o'clock in the evening, the lake having 
become comparatively smooth, the steamer Detroit came 
in. We soon after got aboard and were on our way for 
Chicago. 

This was an old vessel and had a very ungentlemanly 
hst of officers. 

It was not until after a long parley with the steward 
and captain, that we were successful in obtaining any 
refreshments. Immediately after supper, I lay down and 
soon fell asleep, and, on awaking the next morning, I 
found our boat moored at the wharf in Chicago. The 
past two days had been our first really bitter experience. 
Much of the same as bad or worse was in store for us." 



across the continent 29 

Wednesday, April 25. 

Chicago at that time was a comparatively small city of 
about 25,000 inhabitants. 

The Michigan and Illinois Canal from Lake Michigan 
at Chicago to the Illinois River at La Salle, which had 
been under construction for twelve years or more, had 
been finished the year previous, and was open for traffic. 

We left Chicago at ten o'clock in the morning on a 
packet by the above mentioned canal for La Salle, a point 
situated at the head of navigation on the Illinois River. 

The weather was fine and we found this to be a de- 
lightful mode of travel, but not very expeditious. The 
packet was drawn by mules or horses traveling on the 
tow-path. 

The passengers had a good view of the broad Illinois 
prairies, as they passed leisurely through the country. A 
large percentage of those prairies were then unbroken 
and were the native home of the prairie hen. From 
Chicago westv/ard the country is so nearly level that 
there are no locks in the canal for twenty-five miles. 

At night we had the pleasure of seeing a burning 
prairie for the first time. 

Thursday, April 26. 

Owing to a leakage in the canal the packet ran aground 
about two o'clock this morning, where we were detained 
four hours — until six. We arrived at La Salle about two 
o'clock in the afternoon. 

The canal passes along down a valley one mile or more 
broad, with bluffs on each side. This valley has the ap- 
pearance of having been, at some remote period of the 



S.0 THE GOLD SEEKEKS OP '49 

past, the bed of a large river, and is thought by many 
to have once been the outlet and drainage of the Great 
Lakes, whose waters now form the great cataract of 
Niagara. I went out with my gun about one mile west 
of the city, where I found prairie chickens to be very 
numerous on the prairie. They are as large or larger 
than our New England partridge, which they very much 
resemble. 

We left La Salle at 9 o'clock in the evening by the 
steamer Princeton for St. Louis, by way of the Illinois 
and Mississippi Rivers. 

Friday, April 27. 

The weather is fine today. The Illinois River is a 
stream about one-half mile wide, with low, timbered bot- 
tom lands on each side, which at this time are consider- 
ably inundated, the river being quite high. 

The scener}^ along the river presents a very dreary ap- 
pearance at this time. It is neither beautiful nor grand. 
We saw a few wild turkeys along near the shore, which 
to us was something new. 

Saturday, April 28. 

At ten o'clock we entered the Mississippi River, and at 
eleven, passed the junction of the Missouri with the 
Mississippi. 

The river at this point is nearly two miles in width,, 
and has a current of about four miles an hour. 

The upper Mississippi is a deep, clear stream, while 
the Missouri has many shoals and sand bars, and whose 



ACROSS THE CONTINENT 81 

waters are always muddy, so very muddy that they color 
the Mississippi, from the junction to the Gulf of Mexico. 

At one o^clock we arrived at St. Louis. 

This flourishing city is situated on |he west bank of 
the Mississippi, and, owing to its commanding position, 
will probably ever maintain a leading position among the 
great cities of the West. 

The streets, at this time, are quite muddy and filthy, 
but they are of good width. 

The population appears to be made up — as seems to us 
New Englanders — of a heterogeneous collection of al- 
most every nation and tongue. 

Tonight we engage passage to Independence, Missouri, 
and go aboard the steamer Bay State, w^hich is to leave 
here tomorrow morning for St. Joseph, Mo. 

Sunday, April 29. 

We left St. Louis at ten o'clock and proceeded up the 
river. At twelve we entered the turbid waters of the 
Missouri. 

The Bay State is a good vessel, but is very much 
crowded with Californians. 

On her last voyage up the river she is said to have 
lost quite a large number of her passengers by cholera, 
which at present is quite prevalent on the western rivers. 

At 4 o'clock we pass the beautiful city of St. Charles, 
situated on the north bank of the river. 

The bottom lands along the river are low and subject 
to overflow ; consequently the settlements in sight of the 
river are not very numerous, a few log cabins beeing seen 
on the banks. 



32 THE GOLD SEEKERS OF '49 

The channel of the river is very much obstructed by 
snags and sand bars and is constantly changing, which 
renders the navigation of the Missouri extremely difficult 
and dangerous. 

Monday, April 30. 

We made about ninety miles during the day yesterday, 
but moved slowly during the night. 

Early this morning we passed the village of Hermon, 
noted for its extensive wine distilleries. A little later 
we passed Portland, situated on the north side of the 
river. At three we touched at Jefferson City, situated 
on the right bank of the Missouri River, 160 miles from 
St. Louis. This is the capital of Missouri, and is very 
pleasantly located on a high bank. 

Tuesday, May i. 

At 12 o'clock we passed Glasgow; at 5, Brunswick; 
and at 7, Miami, all of which are apparently pleasant and 
thriving little villages. 

The banks of the river are maich higher than they are 
lower down, and consequently, we see more settlements. 

Wednesday, May 2. 

We saw a few small villages on the banks of the river. 

At six o'clock p. M. we passed Lexington City, some 

forty or fifty miles below Independence, our destination. 

Thursday, May 3. 

At two o'clock this morning we arrived at Independ- 
ence Landing, four miles from Independence. 



CHAPTER III. 

THE OVERLAND TRAIL. 

This is the place where we are to be initiated into the 
beauties of camp life; and to fit out and start with our 
mule trains for California. 

At 4 p. M. we had our tents pitched and, as we be- 
lieved, were perfectly well prepared for the first night in 
camp, and partaking of a little supper — the first of our 
own cooking — we lay down, all seeming anxious to try 
our new manner of living. 

We rested very comfortably for a time, but at length 
it began to rain quite rapidly, and we felt much pleased 
to find our tents so well adapted to shed water and pro- 
tect us from a heavy shower. 

Our joy, however, was soon after turned to disgust and 
chagrin when we felt the water between us and the 
ground, and on rising, we found our under blankets 
thoroughly drenched with water. Many of us were 
thoroughly wet to the skin. 

This first mishap of the kind to happen must be at- 
tributed to our own innocent ignorance, as our tents were 
set on a slight declivity, and the necessity of trenching 
them on the upper sides to turn the water away, did not 
occur to us. However, we learned this part of camp life 
in such a manner as to never be forgotten. 

It was learned in the same manner as we shall here- 
after, probably, learn many other new things before our 

83 



34 THE GOLD SEEKERS OF '49 

journey is ended. A few of our party begin to believe 
that they have already seen almost enough of camp life 
to satisfy them. 

The company held the monthly meeting today for the 
election of officers, for the month ensuing, at which 
Joseph B. Gage was elected president, his term of office 
to extend to June first. He seemed to feel very much 
pleased with his new position. 

The rain descended in torrents today. 

In the afternoon, nine of us took our saddles, a tent 
and some provisions and went about three miles in a 
southerly direction, where a large number of our mules 
were herded, for the purpose of trying our hand at 
breaking them. 

These mules had been purchased by the agents of the 
two companies and were being kept by Mr. Sloan. We 
set our tent at the place of herding and made an in- 
effiectual effort to kindle a fire; and after several like 
attempts, we were compelled to give it up and do without 
a fire, and put up with some raw ham and hard bread for 
our supper; after which we retired for a second night's 
lodging in the tent. 

Saturday, May 5. 

The rain ceased last night, and it was fair and pleasant 
this morning. Five of our mules had broken out of their 
enclosure and gone astray. Some two or three of our 
party went in search of them, but returned tonight with- 
out success. 

We tried our skill today at breaking mules, but having 



THE OVERLAND TEAIL 35 

heretofore had no experience or acquaintance with the 
long-eared animals, we found it to be a more difficult task 
than we had supposed it to be, and consequently did not 
make much progress. 

They were young mules which had never been halter- 
broken, and were almost as wild as the deer on the prairie. 
A wild, unbroken mule is the most desperate animal 
that I have ever seen. 

I will pass over the time intervening between now and 
May 26, or about three weeks, with the mention of a few 
incidents that occurred during our stay at Independence, 
and giving a slight description of the country surrounding 
this place. 

This being one of the principal fitting-out places for 
California, it was crowded with immigrants from all parts 
of the United States. Hundreds of ox-teams and mule- 
teams were leaving here daily for California, besides 
many pack-trains, coaches and almost every kind of team 
or vehicle. ^ 

The Asiatic cholera was raging among the immigrants 
to a large extent. 

Many were daily falling victims to this dreaded 
scourge, while many others were becoming disheartened 
and were turning back to their homes. Everything here 
was bustle and wild confusion. Much of the weather 
was rainy and disagreeable, with occasionally one of the 
most terrific thunder showers that I ever witnessed. 

We tried in vain to break our mules by putting large 
packs of sand on their backs and leading them about, but 
it availed very little, as the second trial was as bad as the 
first ; and they were nearly as wild and vicious when we 



36 THE GOLD SEEKERS OF '49 

started on our journey as they were when they were first 
packed. 

Several of our company were sick with the cholera, 
while a number of the Mount Washington company died 
with the same dread disease. These adverse circumstances 
detained us somewhat longer than we wished, and much 
longer than it was for our interest to remain; but as it 
seemed unavoidable, we were compelled to content our- 
selves as best we could. But we were looking for better 
days. Joseph B. Gage continuel to fill the ofiice of presi- 
dent. 

The surrounding country is very beautiful with a rich, 
productive soil, much of it being a high, rolling prairie. 

Timber is somewhat scarce, but it is of a superipr 
quality. 

There are some small plantations, principally cultivated 
by colored people, who in almost all cases appear to be 
well satisfied with their condition in life. 

On May 26th, we had moved out about twenty miles 
from Independence and were prepared for a start. In- 
dependence is but a short distant from where Kansas City 
now stands. (Distance to here, 20 miles.) 

Saturday^ May 26. 

We commenced packing our mules early in the morn- 
ing, but owing to their wild and unbroken state, and be- 
ing unacquainted with packing, we were not prepared to 
start until five o'clock in the evening, when we left our 
old camp-ground and travelled three miles and again 
camped. (Distance, 3 miles.) 



THE OVERLAND TRAIL dl 

This appeared like a very tedious way to get to Cali- 
fornia, a distance of more than 2,000 miles. 

Sunday, May 27. 

We commenced packing again this morning and were 
prepared to start at about noon. This is quite an im- 
provement in point of time over yesterday. 

It took as many men to pack a mule as could stand 
around it, and we were obliged to choke many of them, 
before we could get the saddle upon their backs. 

They would kick, bite and strike with their fore feet, 
making it very dangerous to go about them. Several of 
our company were quite badly disabled by working with 
them, so that they were unable to assist in packing. 

We started about noon and traveled about eight miles, 
over a high, rolling prairie, and camped. Today we 
crossed the western boundary of Missouri and entered 
the Indian Territory. (Distance, 8 miles.) 

Monday, May 28. 

This morning we started at 9 o'clock and traveled 
eighteen miles over a rolling prairie country, and camped 
near a small Indian village. Very little timber of any 
kind is found in this section, but we find plenty of grass 
and water. 

The soil is deep and of first-rate quality ; and at no 
distant day this must become one of the richest and most 
productive agricultural sections of the country. (Dis- 
tance, 18 miles.) 



38 the gold seekers of '49 

Tuesday, May 29. 

Leave camp at 10 o'clock and travel twelve miles across 
a prairie and camp in a very pleasant place, where we find 
plenty of good grass and water, and also a scanty supply 
of wood. 

We saw about a dozen wild horses ; but it was impos- 
sible to approach near them. Very little game is seen 
near the road. (Distance, 12 miles.) 

Wednesday, May 30. 

Owing to some of our horses and mules straying away 
last night and taking the road toward Missouri, we re- 
mained encamped today. The horses, mules and cattle 
belonging to the two companies number more than three 
hundred. It was necessary to guard them nights, and 
each member was obliged to take his turn on guard, reg- 
ularly, a part of the night, once in two or three nights. 

The cattle that we were driving were designed to fur- 
nish us with our principal dependence for provisions dur- 
ing our long journey. They were mostly young cattle 
and not very large. When we were in need of some 
provisions we would have one killed and dressed, and the 
meat was divided among the different messes. 

We were fortunate enough to recover our mules and 
horses before night. 

I went across about three miles to an Indian village. 
They have very comfortable log cabins, and were at work 
turning up the prairie with the plow; and apparently 
some of them have very good farms, and appear to be 
partially civilized, and seem to be in a fair way to give 



THE OVERLAND TRAIL 39 

Up their former nomadic way of life in exchange for 
civilization, and gain their livelihood by tilling the soil, 
instead of pursuing the chase. This, probably, is one of 
the most civilized tribes, and the great majority of our 
wild Indians must be expected to cling to their ancient 
manners and customs for many years in the future. 

Thursday, May 31. 

The weather is fair and pleasant. 

Edward Moon, Esq., secretary of our company, being 
very much out of health, turned back and left the com- 
pany for Boston. 

This is the second one of our company who has given 
up going to California and returned to his home. 

Many are turning back with their teams, having become 
discouraged in anticipation of the long and tedious jour- 
ney before them; large numbers are dying daily of 
cholera and other fatal diseases. 

Leave camp at one o'clock and travel about four miles, 
where we cross a small river running south; and later, 
we cross a low, wet, swampy prairie about one and one- 
half miles in width, after which we travel six miles and 
camp. 

Land today principally prairie, with some cottonwood 
timber along the streams. Soil excellent. (Distance 
traveled, 12 miles.) 

Friday, June i. 

A beautiful morning. We leave camp at 9 o'clock this 
morning and travel about twenty miles, over a rolling 



40 THE GOLD SEEKERS OF ^49 

prairie, without wood or water. Camp in the afternoon 
about one-half miles west of the road. 

We have lost four or five of our cattle, they having 
left the herd and strayed away. The mules are now be- 
coming very tame and docile, but many of them have 
very sore backs. 

Some of our mules are packed with more than two 
hundred pounds, which is much too heavy for so young 
animals. (Distance today, 20 miles.) 

Saturday, June 2. 

We delayed starting until 2 o'clock, for the reason 
that two of the Mount Washington men that are traveling 
with us were taken with the cholera during last night. 
We leave them with Dr. A. Haynes with assistants and 
travel twelve miles and camp on the north bend of a small 
stream, about fifteen miles from the Kansas River. 

One of the cholera patients died at 5 o'clock this even- 
ing. The other seems some better and appears to be in 
a fair way to recover. 

Sunday, June 3. 

Fair and warm. Thermometer 86 degrees in the 
shade. The last of the two cholera patients died this 
morning at 9 o'clock. They both died at the camp where 
we left them, twelve miles east. 

We remain here today where we find plenty of good 
wood, water and grass. The men of both companies are 
now in good health. 

The two men that died of the cholera were large, heavy, 



THE OVEELAND TRAIL. 41 

strong men in good health, and were taking their turn 
at driving cattle on Friday. They were stricken with 
cholera on Friday night. One of the men died Saturday 
afternoon, and the other died Sunday morning at 9 
o'clock. They were buried on the wild prairie. There 
are hundreds of the immigrants dying constantly — more 
or less every day. 

Monday, June 4. 

Leave camp at 10 o'clock for the Kansas River. We 
cross two or three small streams and pass some Indian 
settlements, and arrive at the Kaw River ferry in season 
to cross our horses and niules and a part of our baggage 
before night. 

The ferry-boat is made from hewn planks framed to- 
gether, bearing a very strong resemblance to a raft. 

The river is about 650 feet in width, with a rapid and 
muddy current. This is one of the three or four streams 
that contribute to render the waters of the Missouri so 
very muddy. 

On the right bank of the river is situated a small Indian 
village, known as Uniontown, which, together with the 
Indian population, contains a few white men who have 
taken Indian women for their wives. 

Two or three of the Mount Washington company are 
seriously attacked with cholera, but they recovered dur- 
ing the night. (Distance, 15 miles.) 

Tuesday, June 5. 

It was quite late in the afternoon before we had suc- 
ceeded in getting all of our mules, horses, cattle and 



42 THE GOLD SEEKERS OF '49 

baggage over the river, consequently we did not move our 
camp today. 

The Pottawatomie tribe of Indians that inhabit this sec- 
tion of the country is quite numerous and is in a partial 
state of civilization. They are cultivating the soil to con- 
siderable extent and raise wheat, corn and potatoes in 
moderate quantities. We purchased of them some flour 
and two or three Indian ponies. 

One or two of our company are talking some of leav- 
ing our company and joining some other party, but they 
concluded to continue wath us. 

Wednesday, June 6. 

We leave camp at 12 o'clock and travel 18 miles. \ye 
passed a Catholic mission erected for the purpose of 
Christianizing the Indian^ tribes and converting them to 
the Catholic religion. Indian settlements are quite numer- 
ous here. Rattlesnakes are seen in large numbers. 

We camped in the evening, after which a very violent 
shower came up. 

The wind blevv^ so violently that all of our tents were 
leveled to the earth over our heads, which was not very 
agreeable. However, we are compelled to make the best 
of all such misfortunes, and are becoming more accus- 
timed to the endurance of hardships than at first. (Dis- 
tance, 18 miles.) 

Thursday, June 7. 

We start at 9 o'clock this morning and after traveling 
four miles, cross the Little Vermillion River. 



THE OVEKLAND TRAIL 43 

We halt for dinner at lo o'clock, and camp at 6 o'clock. 
The country through which we are traveling is very 
beautiful, it being a high, rolling prairie covered with a 
fine growth of grass, and watered by numerous cool 
springs of good water, with some small streams. (Dis- 
tance, i6 miles.) 

Friday, June 8. 

Strike camp at 8 o'clock, travel until noon, when we 
unpack our mules and remain until 2 o'clock. Camp at 
6 in the evening. 

The road is dry and hard and almost as good as a 
turnpike. 

The ox-teams make as good time as our mule train. 
(Distance traveled, 20 miles.) 

Saturday, June 9. 

Leave camp at 8 130, and soon after cross the Big Ver- 
million River, which is a stream of considerable size, with 
a very rapid current. 

Halt for dinner at noon and camp at night without 
wood. The water is considerably impregnated with 
alkali, so very strong that it feels slippery. 

There is said to be much of this kind of water on the 
plains. It is destructive to health and even life, both 
to man and animals. (Distance, 20 miles.) 

Sunday, June 10. 

Break camp before breakfast and travel twelve miles, 
where we find an abundance of wood and good water. 



44. THE GOLD SEEKEES OF '49 

Some returning Californians dined with us today, hav- 
ing traveled about 150 miles beyond this point, when they 
became discouraged and began to retrace their footsteps. 

The prospects of reaching California certainly look 
somewhat discouraging at the present time. 

The great bulk of the immigration, which is very large, 
is in advance of us. That very much dreaded scourge, 
the Asiatic cholera, is making such sad havoc among the 
Californians that almost every camp-ground is converted 
into a burial-ground, and at many places twelve or fifteen 
graves may be seen in a row. 

Almost every traveler that we meet, who has ever been 
west of the Rocky Mountains, gives it as his opinion that 
there is not grass enough in that region of country to 
sustain one-half of the stock that is now on the Califor- 
nia trail; and they are of the opinion that the present 
immigration cannot reach California this season. 

Much trouble is also anticipated by many from some 
of the western tribes of Indians, who are said to be hos- 
tile to the whites. The Mormons who settled near the 
California trail, in the Great Lake valley, in 1847, ^^^ ^^^o 
much feared by a large number of those from Missouri. 

All these circumstances and conditions combined are 
of sufficient weight to frighten many and cause them to 
banish the bright, golden visions which allured them from 
their homes, with the bright anticipations of soon becom- 
ing wealthy. 

The principal anxiety that seems to fill the minds of 
such at the present time is to reach, as soon as possible, 
their former homes ; and consequently, while the great 



THE OVERLAJ^D TRAIL 45 

majority are moving west, a large number are traveling 
east. 

To meet so many who have been farther westward on 
the trail, and who have turned backward, and are now 
seeking their former homes, has its influence upon a 
large number that would otherwise proceed and causes 
them to also reverse their course. 

I have, myself, heard all these discouragements many 
times rehearsed, and weighed the matter, and have found 
conclusions as follows : 

I started for California anticipating that we should 
meet many hardships, privations and dangers on our 
long journey, and, as yet, we have experienced nothing 
of a nature any more severe than we had reason to ex- 
pect ; and as for what we may find ahead of us we know 
but little of. I am fully determined to proceed as far 
in the direction of California as it is possible for me to 
go, and not to return until I have seen the place I set 
out to reach. 

It seems to be a very curious fact that the immigrants 
from the state of Missouri — which by the way, were 
more numerous than from any other one state — seem to 
suffer more from the cholera than almost all the other 
immigration combined. 

I know of no good reason why this should be so. They 
have had their homes on the frontier and, consequently, 
have been subjected to more exposure and hardships than 
any other class now on the California trail. (Distance 
traveled, 12 miles.) 



46 the gold seekers of '49 

Monday, June ii. 

The first experience worthy of note this morning was 
a very heavy shower. This lasted two hours and was 
accompanied with a most terrific gale, which very soon 
levelled every tent in our camp, leaving us nothing under 
which we could shelter ourselves. Consequently, we were 
all most thoroughly drenched. 

Start in the afternoon and travel fifteen miles over a 
smooth prairie, and camp. (Distance, 15 miles.) 

Tuesday, June 12. 

Weather very fine. Leave camp at 9 o'clock, and travel 
eight miles and camp until three, when we again move .on 
nine miles farther, and camp for the night. (Distance 
traveled, 17 miles.) 

Wednesday, June 13. 

A shower with a heavy wind occurred at about mid- 
night. 

Our tents withstood the gale, but the rain was driven 
through in such large quantities as to drench us 
thoroughly. 

At about 2 o'clock another shower occurred with a 
wind much stronger and more severe than the first, which 
levelled all our tents to the ground, notwithstanding the 
exertions of us all to keep them standing; and we were 
again left without a shelter, and compelled to pass the 
balance of the night as best we could — some standing in 
the open air with their backs to the storm, while others 



THE OVEKLAND TRAIL 47 

Were lying under their prostrate tents with water all 
around them two or three inches deep. 

These showers are accompanied with very violent elec- 
trical displays and very heavy thunder. They are the 
most violent and terrifying of anything of the kind I 
have ever witnessed. 

About daylight we managed to get fires started, and 
before noon dried ourselves and our camp equipage al- 
most completely. 

We started at noon and traveled eighteen miles. The 
land through which we passed is apparently very fertile, 
but is almost destitute of timber of any kind. Camp on 
a small stream of clear, pure water. 

Thursday, June 14. 

Leave camp at seven in the morning and travel until 
eleven o'clock. We take dinner on the bank of the Big 
Blue River — a fork of the Kansas. We start again at 
two o'clock and camp at six on the Big Blue. (Distance, 
25 miles.) 

Friday, June 15. 

Weather fair and cool. Travel up the Blue River to- 
day. This is a most beautiful stream; has a rich and 
fertile soil, with considerable good timber. (Distance, 
25 miles.) 

Saturday, June 16. 

Decamp at eight o'clock and travel ten miles to the 
point where the trail leaves the Blue River. We dine 
here. 



48 THE GOLD SEEKERS OF '49 

The road from this place to the Platte River is through 
prairie country destitute of wood. We travel fifteen 
miles in the afternoon and camp on the prarie, without 
wood, and with quite poor water. 

Sunday, June 17. 

Travel twelve miles in the forenoon to the Platte, or 
Nebraska River. In the afternoon we go up the river 
eight miles and camp near Fort Kearney, at the head 
of Grand Island. This island is 52 miles in length and 
appears to be well timbered. 

The Platte is a large river, being from one to two miles 
wide, and has a very rapid current. Its waters are so 
very muddy that after a bucketful has settled, an inch 
of mud, or sediment will appear at the bottom. It has a 
bed of sand which is constantly in motion. (Distance 
traveled, 20 miles.) 

Monday, June 18. 

We remain here today. 

The weather is fair and warm. Thermometer 86 
degrees in the shade. Grass is not very abundant. 

We repair our pack-saddles and other equipage which 
has become considerably out of repair. The backs and 
shoulders of many of our mules have become very sore 
and in a serious condition, many of them having lost large 
patches of skin, and the prospect, at present, seems to 
be that few of them will survive to reach California the 
present season. 

We have made an inspection of our packs today in 



THE OVERLAND TRAIL 49 

view of trying to make them lighter, if possible, but 
could discover very little in them that the members were 
willing to discard. 

We have, for one thing, a patent ''filter," the weight 
of which is about 30 pounds, which has been of no use 
to us, and the prospect now is that it will never be of 
any benefit whatever. We have some iron spades that 
probably will be of no benefit to any one. 

We have also some large, heavy picks which we have 
brought all the way from Boston, and also shovels. 
These may be useful in the mines, but it does not seem 
to be feasible to pack them 2000 miles on the sore backs 
of mules. 

There are, however, such a large number in the com- 
pany that are so bitterly opposed to leaving any such 
article that they will defeat any such measure proposed ; 
and even call all such foolish who believe it would be 
wise to lighten the loads of our poor mules in such a 
manner. 

Tuesday, June 19. 

Weather fair and very windy. 

Remain here today. I visit Fort Kearney, which is 
about one and one-half miles distant from our camp. 

The fort and other buildings are constructed of 
adobe, or sun-burned bricks, with one exception. The 
fort v/as established about two years since. 

A large number of immigrants are encamped about the 
fort, at this time, and also a company of United States 
cavalry. It is said at Fort Kearney that the wagons 
passed here already this season, en route for California, 



50 THE GOLD SEEKERS OP '49 

number 5,400, and also three pack trains. This point is 
about 350 miles from Independence, Mo. 

Wednesday, June 20. 

We packed in the afternoon and after traveling four 
miles, we encountered a very fierce shower, which 
thoroughly drenched every one of us. A little later an- 
other shower was encountered, which was much more 
severe than the first, and which was accompanied with 
some hail and a terrific wind. 

Camp at the first good camping place after the showers. 
Blankets and all clothes thoroughly wet and no oppor- 
tunity for drying them. It is certainly uncomfortable 
lodgings. 

Since leaving Independence, until the last two or three 
days, my health has not been very good. (Distance, 10 
miles. 

Thursday, June 21. 

Travel nine miles in the forenoon and six in the after- 
noon. Our course is up the Platte River, the valley of 
which is nearly level and is several miles wide on either 
side. We camp tonight where there is no wood on the 
mainland, and we waded a branch of the river about 
twenty rods to an island to procure it. The water is not 
deep, but the current is quite rapid. There are numerous 
islands in the river. 

Friday, June 22. 
Travel 12 miles in the forenoon, halt two hours and 
dine. Travel eight miles in the afternoon and camp. All 
in good health. 



Tkfe "OVEKLAND TKAIL 51 

Saturday, June 23. 

Travel up the River Platte today 20 miles, and camp 
without wood, but find plenty of "Buffalo chips," which, 
if dry, are a very good substitute for fuel. 

Sunday, June 24. 

Weather fair and warm. Thermometer stands at 95 
degrees, at noon, in the shade. 

I traveled south, back from the river, about four miles 
to the bluffs, today. Owing to the very clear, transparent 
atmosphere, no one who was not acquainted with it could 
believe the distance was more than one mile at most. I 
did not believe it when I left camp, after having been 
told by those who had traveled the distance and back. 

These bluffs are a succession of sand hills, rising 
abruptly from the level plain, along the Platte on both 
sides, and extend back from the river a long distance. 

Antelopes are very plentiful, but are not easily killed 
on the level prairie. There is little timber or wood here. 
The soil is sandy, but produces a very good grass. 

Monday, June 25. 

Broke camp at 5 o'clock in the morning and traveled 
eight miles, where we halted until two in the afternoon. 
Travel three and one-half hours in the afternoon and 
camp on the bank of the river, where we found a good 
supply of wood. Mosquitoes are more plentiful here than 
I have ever seen before. I would judge there are more 
than forty bushels of these pests to the acre, and they are 
of a very large breed. (Distance, 20 miles.) 



52 the gold seekees of '49 

Tuesday, June 26. 

Started at 5 o'clock this morning. We had traveled 
about ten miles, when the startling cry of ''Buffalo ahead" 
was heard from those in advance. 

This was the first buffalo herd seen by our company, 
and every one was anxious to gratify his curiosity by 
a sight of a real live American bison. On looking ahead 
about two miles, and not far from the immigrant trail, 
a herd of about one hundred buffaloes could be seen, 
quietly grazing. 

A number of the company that could be spared from 
the train, immediately left the train and gave chase to 
the herd. The buffaloes on seeing their approach, imme- 
diately started toward the sand hills, and soon disap- 
peared from sight. The men who were in pursuit fol- 
lowed them, and we soon after camped on the bank of 
the River Platte. 

Soon after we had unpacked the mules, we saw four 
large buffaloes emerging from the brush, not more than 
100 rods distant from our camp. Our horses were all 
unsaddled, and before we could catch and saddle them, 
the large animals were a long distance from us. 

One of our men, Mr. Hodgdon, soon came in and 
stated that he had shot and killed a buffalo, about four 
miles distant from our camp, in the sand hills. After 
dinner, a party of four or five with two extra mules, went 
out to dress the slaughtered bison, and to bring the meat 
into our camp; and the balance of the company packed 
up the camp and started. During the afternoon, we 
killed a buffalo calf, four or five weeks old. 



THE OVERLAND TRAIL 53 

We ate buffalo meat for supper, cooked with "Buffalo 
chips." The meat is very coarse grained and of a dark 
color, and is very good, but in my estimation, is much 
inferior to good beefsteak. They are said not to be so 
good at this season of the year as they will be later, when 
they will be more fleshy. (Distance, i8 miles.) 

Wednesday, June 27. 

We started at 8 o'clock and traveled four miles in the 
forenoon. In the afternoon we go up the river to the 
South Platte. 

I went up the river about three miles for some wood. 
Plenty of buffalo. (Distance, 17 miles.) 

Thursday, June 28. 

Fair weather. Packed in the morning and prepared to 
ford the south fork of the Platte River. 

The stream is about three-fourths of a mile in width 
and from one foot to three feet deep. The current is 
rapid and water very muddy. From its appearance, any 
one might suppose the stream was 20 feet deep. 

I crossed and recrossed it on horseback three times. 
We had no very bad luck in crossing. Some of our packs 
became wet and we unpacked on the west side of the 
stream and dried them. We started at one o'clock and 
traveled 12 miles in the afternoon and camped without 
wood, but found plent^y of good, dry "Buft'alo chips.'* 
(Distance, 13 miles.) 



64 the gold seekers of ^49 

Friday, June 29. 

Start at 6.30 o'clock and finding neither wood nor 
water, we traveled seven hours, when we halt and make 
a search for water, and find a spring about one mile from 
camp. 

This was good fortune. (Distance, 20 miles.) 

Saturday, June 30. 

Weather warm and dry. Travel ten miles in the fore- 
noon and eight in the afternoon. One of our company 
killed a buffalo this afternoon, and after we had camped, 
Joseph B. Gage, with two or three others, with mules, 
went back to bring in the meat ; but before they had ar- 
rived at the place where it was slain, they saw a band 
of Indians riding toward them, and they became 
frightened and returned to cam.p with all possible speed. 

The next morning, a party of Sioux Indians came into 
our camp, and desired the doctor should give them some 
medicine, stating that their camp was on the opposite 
side of the Platte, and that the smallpox was raging 
among them. 

They were perfectly friendly and said they had no in- 
tention of frightening our men away from the buffalo 
meat, but that they wished to talk with them and get 
some medicine; and also stated that they made all the 
friendly signs that they could think of to have them stop. 
The doctor supplied them with medicine and they left 
our camp. (Distance, 18 miles.) 



THE OVERLAND TRAIL 55 

Sunday, July i. 

We did not move camp today. 

The land is not so level here as it is on the Lower 
Platte. Soil sandy; wood scarce; weather fair and dry. 

Monday, July 2. 

We started in the morning and soon passed through 
Ash Hollow, so-called. It derives its name from large 
quantities of red ash timber found here. 

We dine at the foot of Castle Bluffs. These bluffs of 
sandstone rise abruptly several hundred feet, and having 
been exposed to the weather for many thousand years, 
have been transformed into shapes very much resembling 
ancient castles, hence the name. Camp on the Platte. 

The road today has been very sandy. (Distance, 23 
miles. 

Tuesday, July 3. 

Break camp at half past six in the morning and travel 
four hours in the forenoon and eleven miles in the after- 
noon. Found the road sandy. Camp on the bank of the 
North Platte. (Distance, 25 miles.) 

Wednesday, July 4. 

The Fourth of July will remind an American of his 
home wherever he may be or however far he may be 
separated from it. Early in the morning we fired sev- 
eral rounds, and made as much noise as possible in honor 
of the day of Independence. We started in the morning 
and soon passed an encampment where we had the 



5"6 THE GOLD SEEKERS OF '49 

pleasure of beholding the "Star Spangled Banner" float- 
ing in the cool breeze. We traveled a few miles farther 
and passed another camp with two large American flags 
Avaving above it. 

We halted at noon within sight of Court House Rock. 
This rock is several hundred feet in length and at a dis- 
tance bears a strong resemblance to a large building with 
a cupola. It is said to be about 12 miles from the road, 
but to measure the distance with the eye, a person would 
judge it to be not more than one mile distant. The name 
of J. J. Astor, with the date 1798, is said to have been 
carved there, and that it may still be seen. Mr. Astor 
was one of the American fur traders to cross the con- 
tinent. 

We camp seven miles south of Chimney Rock. This 
rock rises about 255 feet and in form very much re- 
sembles a chimney. Standing as it does on a level plain, 
it can be seen 25 or 30 miles away. Its material is sand- 
stone and may easily be worked or cut. (Distance, 20 
miles.) 

Thursday, July 5. 

Weather pleasant. Traveled 18 miles up the Platte 
and camped. Grass is quite scarce here. 

Friday, July 6. 

We passed ''Scott's Bluffs" in the forenoon which pre- 
sent a ver,y peculiar appearance. We found plenty of 
wood at noon — the first we have had for four days. 

Camp at a fine spring, where we also find an abun- 
dance of fuel but a scarcity of grass. In the afternoon 



THE OVERLAND TRAIL 57 

we have a view of "Laramie Peak," distant more than 
50 miles west. Camp at night on Horse Creek, where 
we find good grass and water. (Distance, 25 miles.) 

Saturday, July 7. 

Traveled 20 miles, principally over a barren country, 
and camped. 

Sunday, July 8. 

Weather fair with a high wind. 

Start in the morning and after traveling three hours 
we reach Laramie River, which we ford with no other 
difficulty than to have some of our packs considerably 
wet. This stream, although small, is very rapid and has 
a gravelly bottom with clear water. 

We soon after passed Fort Laramie and camp two 
miles above the fort on Laramie River. By recrossing 
the river we have good grass for our horses, mules and 
cattle. (Distance, 15 miles.) 

Monday, July 9. 

Remained here today. 

Before leaving Boston we had light, strong trunks man- 
ufactured — two for each pack mule — in which to pack 
our clothing, provisions, etc. They were made as port- 
able as was possible to insure sufficient strength. We 
now, after packing them about 700 miles, get a vote of 
the company to break them up and make bags from the 
leather coverings. This measure some of us have be- 
lieved to be a wise plan for a month past, but those who 



68 THE GOLD SEEKERS OF '49 

first favored the plan were laughed at by the majority. 
We have been packing thirty pounds of dead weight to 
each mule which can be dispensed with. The first thought 
of packing these trunks — two to each mule — to Califor- 
nia, was a sad oversight by Captain Thing, who sug- 
gested them. 

Tuesday, July io. 

Weather fair and warm; thermometer 98 degrees in 
the shade. Remained here today. In the evening I went 
down to the fort. The outside wall is built of adobe, or 
sun-burnt bricks, and encloses about one-half acre. The 
buildings are within the enclosure. The fort was estab- 
lished several years since by the American Fur Company 
for the purpose of trading with the Indians, and wag 
sold a short time since by that company to the United 
States Government, and is now occupied by Colonel San- 
derson with a regiment of United States Cavalry. He 
is now engaged in building a mill, house, barracks, etc. 

Wednesday, July ii. 

We still remain here. 

All the camp grounds near the fort are literally cov- 
ered with wagon irons, clothing, beans, bacon, pork and 
provisions of almost all kinds, which have been left by 
the advance immigration to lighten their loads and 
facilitate their speed. 

Thursday, July 12. 

Decamp at 9 o'clock and after traveling 21 miles, we 
camp on a small stream. Grass poor. 



the overland trail 59,. 

Friday, July 13. 

Weather cool. Started at seven in the morning and 
after 13 miles' travel, we found a most excellent spring 
at which we dined. 

In the afternoon we cross a small stream and camp 
on the Platte, where we find good grass. (Distance, 24 
miles.) 

Saturday, July 14. 

Travel 13 miles in the forenoon and 12 in the after- 
noon and camped on a small river. Grass scarce. 

Sunday, July 15. 

Weather fair and warm. Remain in camp today. We 
have found plent,y of wood since we left Laramie. The 
country through this part is hilly and broken ; soil barren 
and sterile. The health of the company is good. The 
cholera followed the immigration to near Fort Laramie, 
making sad ravages in very many companies ; but it 
seems at last to have slackened its hold and seems to have 
become extinct. For the last week we have seen but few 
graves by the roadside. 

Many were the men who left their homes for Cali- 
fornia last spring, with bright prospects of reaping a 
golden harvest within a few months and returning to 
their home and friends. But alas! their hopes were 
blasted, and instead they have left their bones to bleach 
upon the great plains of Nebraska, with not even a stone 
to mark their resting place. Many, who one day have 
been in the enjoyment of perfect health, the next have 
been in their graves. 



6d THE GOLD SEEKERS OP ^49 

Monday, July i6. 

We started in the morning and in good season, and 
drove 17 miles before dinner, and eight more in the after- 
noon. The land over which we have traveled today is 
very barren and produces very little, excepting wild sage 
weeds with a very little grass, which at this time is 
perfectly dry. 

Tuesday, July 17. 

Started in the morning and traveled eight miles to the 
lower ferry on the North Platte, where we camped. 
Here we found a poor ferry boat in which we carried our 
packs to the opposite side of the stream, and caused all 
of our animals to swim over. We lost one mule by be- 
ing drowned, with which exception we were very fortu- 
nate. The stream at this point is very rapid and deep. 
Travel 12 miles in the afternoon over a barren, sandy 
country and camp on the Platte. 

Wednesday, July 18. 

Travel 18 miles up the river and camp. 

The land is poor and many of our mules are in poor 
condition; and some of the weakest appear as if they 
would be unable to proceed a great distance further. 

Large quantities of bacon and other kinds of pro- 
visions have been left by immigrants by the side of the 
road when teams became exhausted, and may be seen 
in large heaps on almost every camp ground. 

Farming and mining implements of all descriptions, 
mechanics' tools, and wagons, all go to make up the list 
of abandoned property. 



the overland trail 61 

Thursday, July 19. 

Travel 12 miles and camp on the North Platte, two 
miles above the upper ferry, at a point where the road 
leaves the river. 

In the afternoon we have very line sport catching a 
sort of white fish from the river which are very plentiful 
at this place, and are a fine fish. 

Friday, July 20. 

We did not start today until noon. 

The filter of which I have before spoken has been 
packed all these many miles from Independence on the 
mule of George Carlton. He has spoken in favor of 
leaving it several times, but the consent of some of the 
company could not be had. What could be done? The 
poor mule was getting weak and poor. 

Mr. Carlton took the filter from the pack and put it 
into a thicket and informed two or three whom he well 
knew were in favor of leaving it behind, and said if we' 
would "keep dark" he would let it remain there. So the 
filter was left behind when we started. 

In the afternoon we traveled 11 miles and camped at 
a spring. 

Saturday, July 21. 

Start in the morning and in ten miles' travel come to 
some very strong alkali water. Travel 5 miles farther 
and dine at a good spring. 

Go 5 miles in the afternoon. Wild sage is the principal 
production here. 



62 THE aOLD SEEKERS OF '49 



Sunday, July 22. 



Weather fine. Start in the morning and travel 20 
miles. Camp on the Sweetwater River, a branch of the 
Platte, one mile above Independence Rock. 

The country between the Platte and Sweetwater Rivers 
is very barren, destitute of timber, with very little grass 
or other vegetation, except wild sage. Much of the water 
is alkali, poisonous to cattle and horses and is entirely 
unfit for use. When water has evaporated here, a sub- 
stance resembling saleratus may be gathered up in large 
quantities. In some cases it may be found on the sur- 
face three or four inches in thickness, white and pure as 
the finest pearlasli manufactured ; and on trial we found 
it equally as good for the purpose of making bread. We 
have seen large numbers of dead cattle by the roadside 
the past three days. 

Monday, July 23. 

Remain encamped here today for the benefit of our 
tired mules. 

We had a fine shower in the afternoon. A buffalo was 
killed by one of our company j^esterday which affords us 
plenty of meat. 

Tuesday, July 24. 

The majority of our company is not ready to advance, 
consequently we must remain here another day. 

The excuse is made that it is necessary for the animals 
to recruit, but the grass is poor, and I believe the animals 
will gain very little. A short stop might be of sorrie bene- 



THS OViSRLAND TRAIL 63 

fit, but to remain two or three days where there is very 
little grass seems like wasting time to no good purpose. 
The company is too large to travel in one body. Some 
are for going ahead, while others are in favor of resting. 
A company of ten men is quite large enough to travel 
expeditiously, but our company is so situated that it can- 
not well be dissolved at present. 

Wednesday, July 25. 

We break camp and travel up the Sweetwater River 
an hour, which brings us to the Devil's Gate. This is a 
fissure in the rock in the Sweetwater River, thirty or 
forty feet wide, two or three hundred feet long, and per- 
haps two hundred feet high, through which the river 
passes, and is quite a natural curiosity. 

Travel 20 miles and camp on the river. 

Thursday, July 26. 

Travel 10 miles in the forenoon and 10 in the after- 
noon, continuing up the Sweetwater. There is a range 
of mountains of each side of the valley. On the right 
they are composed almost entirely of barren rocks, desti- 
tute of vegetation. On the left they have some soil and 
some vegetation. 

Friday, July 27. 

Start in the morning and after six miles' travel the 
road leaves the river and we travel 16 miles farther be- 
fore we find either water or grass, when we reach the 
river again. 



64 THE GOLD SEEKEES OF '49 

We travel up the river two miles further and camp. 
Grass poor. The land along the Sweetwater is very 
poor, with the exception of a little bottom land. Today 
we had a view of the snow capped mountains — the Wind 
River Mountains. 

Saturday, July 28. 

Travel up the river 8 miles, where we find good grass, 
which we have not had the pleasure of seeing before for 
several days. 

Sunday, July 29. 

Weather fair and warm. 

We remained encamped here today. I went out from 
camp a short distance into a small piece of timber and 
on my return a young deer ran out before me and I 
shot it with my pistol through the heart. This is the 
first deer that has been killed by the company. Mr. 
Lyon also killed a Mountain Sheep, or Bighorn. 

Monday, July 30. 

As we didn't move our camp today some of us went 
deer hunting. Deer were quite plentiful, and J. B. Gage 
killed one, which we dressed and carried four miles to 
camp. I fired several shots with buckshot but did not 
succeed in killing any game. 

The country in this vicinity is broken and mountain- 
ous ; soil is rocky, sandy and not very productive. 




THE GOLDEN GATE. 



the overland trail 65 

Tuesday, July 31. 

Weather fine — warm days and cool nights. Break 
camp at a late hour and leave the Sweetwater River, and 
in 16 miles' travel we intersect it again, where we unpack 
our mules and dine. Grouse are very plentiful in this 
region. Remain two hours, after which we travel up the 
river six miles and camp where we find good grass. The 
Sweetwater is a fork of the Platte and derives its name 
from the peculiar taste of the water. 

Wednesday, August i. 

W^e are now near the summit of the Rocky Mountains, 
at an elevation of about 7,000 feet above the Gulf of 
Mexico. 

There was a heavy frost this morning. 

Traveled up the river 11 miles in the forenoon. In 
the afternoon we traveled up the river five miles farther 
and camped on a small branch of the Sweetwater. We 
left the road today with the intention of taking a straight 
course through the m.ountains to Fort Hall, thereby 
avoiding the circuitous route by the way of Fort Bridges. 

Captain Thing, our guide, states that he once traveled 
the route and in his opinion we shall find good grass and 
water, and that there is an Indian trail through which he 
thinks he can follow. The main road is now several 
miles to the south of us. This is known as the South 
Pass of the Rocky Mountains. Many suppose it to be 
a narrow, precipitous pass with high mountains on either 
side ; but it is directly the reverse, it being almost a level 
plain, extending many miles to the north and to the 



66 THE GOLD SEEKERS OF ^49 

south; and were it not that the waters divide near this 
place, and a portion flow to the Gulf of Mexico, and 
another portion to the Pacific Ocean through the Colo- 
rado River and the Gulf of California, any one would 
not believe that they were standing on the summit of the 
Rocky Mountains. 

The altitude of the South Pass is said to be 7,200 
feet, as taken by Col, J. C. Fremont about two years 
since. 

Thursday, August 2. 

The weather was so cold last night that water in our 
buckets was frozen over this morning. 

Traveled 13 miles over a sandy, barren country and 
intersect the Little Sandy River, a small stream coursing 
south. After camping I went out and shot a dozen 
grouse. Several others were out at the same time and 
killed as many as I did. 

Friday, August 3. 

Traveled 9 miles to the Big Sandy River and camped. 
Land poor and somewhat broken; destitute of timber 
with the exception of small willows near the streams. 

Saturday, August 4. 

Started this morning for Green River and traveled 30 
miles over a barren desert, destitute of both grass and 
water. The country is not very broken, and we had 
no difficulty in traveling wherever we chose. We inter- 
sected Green River at a point where grass was abundant 



THE OVERLAIsD TRAIL 67 

and wood plentiful. Mr. Hodgdon, a prominent man of 
our company, was taken sick yesterday and was unable 
to travel this morning, consequently we left him behind 
together with eight other men, and we shall remain here 
until they arrive. 

Sunday, August 5. 

Remained in camp here today. Green River is a clear, 
rapid stream, ten to fifteen rods wide and is fordable in 
many places. It is one of the principal branches of the 
Colorado. Its waters are very cold, and its source is 
said to be Fremont's Peak, a snow-capped mountain a 
considerable distance north, the altitude of which is about 
13,000 feet. 

Monday, August 6. 

As we did not start today, some of us went deer hunt- 
ing and killed one buck. At 9 o'clock in the evening the 
men whom we left behind with Mr. Hodgdon arrived 
safely, he having nearly recovered. 

Tuesday, August 7. 

Two or three of our company were not in very good 
health today and consequently we remained at the old 
camp ground. 

Wednesday, August 8. 

Our mules are in much better condition than they were 
when we camped on Green River. They had become so 



68 THE GOLD SEEKERS OF '49 

wild that it was with considerable difficulty that we could 
catch them this morning. 

Start this morning and travel down the river about 
one mile where we ford it without difficulty. We then 
followed down the river two miles farther to a branch 
that came from the west. We followed this branch up 
15 miles and camped. 

Thursday, August 9. 

We left the stream this morning and commenced 
ascending a mountain. At noon we ate our dinner at a 
very fine mountain spring. 

In the afternoon we continued to ascend and passed 
through a heavy growth of spruce timber. Our ascent 
was gradual until about 4 o'clock, when we found our- 
selves at the top of a peak of the Rocky Mountains. To 
the west and north the descent was steep — almost precipi- 
tous. We could see the stream that we had left in the 
morning many hundreds of feet below, but to reach it 
with our pack mules seemed almost an impossibility. 
There were but two ways from which to choose — either 
to descend to the stream, or retrace our steps. We were 
not long in deciding, and we chose the first and concluded 
to try to descend. In about two hours we reached the 
stream in a small pleasant valley. The descent made by 
us was about 2,000 feet and probably about one and one- 
half miles in length, the greater part being covered with 
a thick growth of standing and fallen timber. 

Captain Thing says he was never before at this place 
and is at a loss to know what route to take to get out. 
(Distance, 15 miles.) 



the overland trail 69 

Friday, August io. 

We started in the morning and followed the stream up 
seven miles to its source. We then traveled one mile 
farther and halted, where we found neither water nor 
grass. 

Captain Thing, with two or three men, went ahead 
to endeavor to find a passage through the mountains, 
which are heavily timbered and very rough and broken. 
They returned before night and we went on two miles 
farther through a dense growth of spruce, pine and fir 
and camped. Good grass and excellent water. This is 
in a small valley. (Distance, lo miles.) 

Saturday, August i i . 

Started in good season this morning and soon after 
crossed some small mountainous streams, the headwaters 
of the Columbia. We traveled over hills and through 
small valleys a few miles when we began to descend a 
high mountain. The descent is very steep and we were 
an hour in making it. We reached the valley at length, 
through which passed a small stream with a southern 
course, which is probably a tributary of Bear River. We 
followed the valley down five miles, where we halted an 
hour or two, after which we packed and went down five 
miles farther, where we left the valley and passed over a 
ridge in a westerly direction and entered another small 
valley with a small stream. 

We followed down this stream five miles and camped. 
We passed over places today on the sides of mountains 
along Indian trails which were about one foot wide, on 



70 THE GOLD SEEKERS OF '49 

both sides of which were steeps, almost perpendicular, 
for hundreds of feet on the one side up and on the other 
down ; and in many places, should a horse or mule make 
a misstep, they would be precipitated to the bottom. 
This is not only disagreeable and perplexing traveling, 
but dangerous. The mountains are very rough and 
broken and are principally heavily timbered. A great 
part of the timber has been killed by fire. Where we 
halted at noon I found strawberries plentiful and fine. 
The nth of August seems late for that kind of fruit. 

We have passed over several snow banks within two 
or three days, and sometimes found beautiful flowers in 
blossom within 20 feet of them. (Distance, 20 miles.) 

Sunday, August 12. 

We had a dispute, or difference of opinion, this morn- 
ing about starting. Captain Thing wished to remain here 
today and look out a route for tomorrow, and go straight 
through to Fort Hall. He thought we had come too far 
north for the route he had taken eleven years previous, 
and said that had caused our misfortunte. 

A part of the company desired to remain and follow 
the guide. The others had lost all confidence in his 
knowledge as a guide in the Rocky Mountain country, and 
wished to start today and follow the small stream down 
to Bear River valley, where it was thought to flow. 

A vote of the company was taken on the question and 
the latter party was in tlie majority. 

We started at 8 o'clock and travelled down the stream 
a distance of about 22 miles, where we intersected Bear 
River vallev near the mouth of Smith's Fork where the 



THE OVERLAND TEAIL 71 

road crosses the same. We traveled three miles farther 
and camped on Bear River. 

Our road today was wellnigh impassable. We are 
once again on the California trail after having wandered 
in the mountains for twelve days. Many ox teams that 
were behind us when we left the road on the Sweetwater 
River, are now many miles in advance of us. This route 
has been christened "Thing's Cutoff." A majority of the 
company was in favor of trying it, relying on Captain 
Thing's knowledge of the country and experience. 

Monday, August 13. 

Trav-eled ten miles down the river, crossed Thomas' 
Fork and camped. 

Bear River valley is very beautiful and possesses a 
fertile soil, but the altitude is high. The nights are prob- 
ably frosty. 

Bear River discharges its waters into Great Salt Lake 
at its northern extremity. The River Jordan also dis- 
charges its Salt Lake at its south side, and yet the lake 
has no visible outlet. (Distance, 10 miles.) 

Tuesday, August 14. 

In the forenoon we passed over a high spur of the 
mountains and intersected the river again near Peg Leg 
Smith's, an old one-legged trader who has lived here 
among the Indians fourteen years. He has a small log 
cabin and one or two other small buildings. 

We saw an old Mormon here who tried hard to induce 
us to go by the way of Salt Lake City. He said it would 



72 

be no farther than to follow the California trail, and 
offered us his services as a pilot. A majority of the com- 
pany were at first in favor of adopting that plan, but on 
referring the matter to Peg Leg Smith, who is perfectly 
well acquainted with both routes, we learned that the old 
Mormon was lying and that the distance by way of the 
Mormon city would be at least 150 miles greater. Smith 
has a squaw wife, and trades with the Indians and im- 
migrants. 

We left the Mormon and traveled six miles and 
camped. (Distance, 18 miles.) 

Wednesday, August 15. 

Traveled 20 miles down Bear River and camped. The 
weather is fine. 

Thursday, August 16. 

Started in the morning and after 13 miles of travel 
reached the Soda Springs. From the journals of Col. 
John C. Fremont, Bryant and others, anyone would sup- 
pose that the waters of these springs were a delicious 
beverage to the weary traveler, and I had been led to 
anticipate having a fine draught of soda from nature's 
own fountains, pure and unadulterated. I came up to 
one of the springs where several members of the com- 
pany were drinking from a tin cup. Feeling sowewhat 
thirsty I did not wait my turn for the cup, but lay down 
to drink from the spring. I drank one or two swallows 
when I arose, perfectly satisfied with soda water. I very 
much disliked its taste. Of all the bad water I have 
been obliged to drink on the plains it is the worst of all. 



THE OVEPtLAND TRAIL 73 

There are several of these springs in this vicinity, but 
the most interesting of all is near the bank of Bear River, 
and is known as the Steamboat Spring. It issues from a 
hole in a rock, a foot or more in diameter, and at one 
moment the water will boil up a foot or two above the 
surface of the rock and at the next it will settle down 
so that no water will be visible. Thus it continues to 
ebb and flow, and has ever since first discovered by white 
men, it is said. 

The chemical qualities I will not undertake to explain. 
Some of the company seemed to like the taste of the soda 
water, but I noticed they did not drink very heartily from 
it. Three miles from the Soda Springs we came to a 
fork in the road — one branch leading to Fort Hall, it 
being the old Oregon Trail of about 1843. The other 
is a new trail called the "Immigrants' Cutoff," which is 
said to be 20 or 30 miles shorter. 

By a majority vote of the company v/e concluded to 
take the cutoff. We soon after passed near an extinct 
crater, which at some time in the past, had vomited forth 
its molten lava and covered the plains over which we 
passed. 

Traveled until about 9 o'clock and camped on a small 
stream. (Distance, 28 miles.) 

Friday, August 17. 

We started late in the morning and traveled eight miles 
in the forenoon and ten in the afternoon and camped 
where we found good grass and good water, which are 



74 THE GOLD SEEKERS OF ^49 

the two principal requisites to a good camp ground. 
(Distance, i8 miles.) 

Saturday, August i8. 

Traveled ten miles in the forenoon and 12 in the after- 
noon, and camped at a fine spring. Springs are plentiful 
on this road and grass is good. 

Sunday, August 19. 

Remained encamped today. Water was frozen over 
to the thickness of a quarter of an inch last night. 
Summer berries are very plentiful along the route. They 
much resemble the sugar plum of New England, but are 
nearly as large as a good sized cherry. We have found 
the road very hilly for the last two or three days. 

Monday, August 20. 

Started at 8 o'clock in the morning and traveled eight 
and one-half hours before we found water. Camped at 
a fine spring. (Distance, 25 miles.) 

Tuesday, August 21. 

Traveled 1 1 miles in the forenoon and five in the after- 
noon. Camped at a spring at the south of the road. 

Wednesday, August 22. 

Decamped and nine miles of travel brought us to a 
small stream, after which we cross a barren plain, 12 
miles broad, destitute of wood, water and grass. 



THE OVERLAND TEAIL i^ 

After we had crossed the desert plain we found a small 
stream of clear, cool water at which we halted two hours 
and became refreshed. We traveled six miles to Raft 
River and camped. Here we intersected the old trail from 
Fort Hall to California. The trail through the Cutoff— 
a distance of about 120 miles — is good with the exception 
of being considerably uneven. 

Thursday, August 23. 

Started at i o'clock p. m. and traveled up the stream 
II miles and camped. Road very dry and extremely 
dusty. Raft River is a tributary of Snake River, which 
is one of the principal forks of the Columbia. 

Finding good grass three or four feet high in this val- 
ley, and our stock b^ing in poor condition for traveling, 
we concluded to remain here until Monday morning. A 
few of our mules and horses have been left behind, they 
having become completely worn out or exhausted. 

Monday, August 2y. 

Decamped at an early hour and 11 miles of travel 
brought us to a small stream where we dined. Eight 
miles further we intersected the Mormon road, leading 
from Salt Lake City to California. Camped at a spring 
six miles farther on. 

Calvin S. Fifield and Dr. Haynes left the company this 
morning and went on in advance, with the intention of 
buying their provisions of the immigrants and of camping 
with them, and of arriving in California in advance of 



to THE GOLD SEEKEKS OF '49 

the body of the company, and making necessary arrange- 
ments for its reception. 

Tuesday, August 28. 

Traveled 11 miles in the forenoon over a hilly and 
broken country, when we came to Goose Creek in latitude 
41° 45' agreeable to an observation taken by the quad- 
rant. 

Traveled up the stream 10 miles in the afternoon. 
Road level and dusty. Good water and poor grass. 

It is thought by many that the Mormons of Salt Lake 
City have discovered rich gold mines on this stream, and 
that they are now privately working them and are doing 
well. How far the statement deserves credit is not 
known, but I have seen no good reason to believe it. 

Wednesday,, August 29. 

We started at seven in the morning and traveled 12 
miles in the forenoon, when we halted for dinner ; after 
which we traveled 15 miles before finding water. We 
camped at a spring where grass was not very plentiful. 

Thursday, August 30. 

Very cold morning. Ice formed one-half inch in 
thickness. We traveled 12 miles in the forenoon over a 
barren desert and nooned in a small valley, where we 
found a small quantity of poor water. 

Traveled up the valley eight miles in the afternoon and 
camped at a spring. Grass good. 



the overland trail 7" 7 

Friday, August 31. 

Started at seven in the morning and traveled up the 
valley eight miles, where we intersected a small stream 
where we halted for dinner, after which we traveled two 
miles and came to a warm spring, the water of which 
is so hot that the hand cannot be held in it for a moment 
with comfort. Traveled eight miles farther up the valley, 
thence over a high mountain ridge and camped at a 
spring. 

Saturday, September i. 

In the forenoon we traveled over a barren plain, ten 
miles in extent, when we found a spring. Traveled seven 
miles in the afternoon and intersected a tributary of 
Mary's River, or Humboldt River, and camped. 

Sunday, September 2. 

We did not move our camp today. Grass good. All 
in good health. 

Monday, September 3. 

Traveled down the Humboldt valley 11 miles in the 
forenoon and dined on the river, which at this point is 
a small stream of clear water. 

The valley is broad with a fertile soil which produces 
a good quality of grass. At this time it is parched with 
drouth. We traveled down the valley 12 miles over a 
level road, and camped where we found plenty of grass, 
four or five feet high, very thick and of fine quality. The 
land in this vicinity is fertile, but is entirely destitute of 



.•78 

timber, with the exception of some small willows near 
the streams. The Mormon whom we met on Bear River 
told us that the grass on Mary's River had been entirely 
consumed by fire which had been set by the Digger tribe 
of Indians for the purpose of preventing the immigrants 
from passing through to California, and that in his 
opinion it was an impossibility to travel over that portion 
of the route with teams of horses or cattle. And further, 
that authentic reports had reached Salt Lake City that 
men, women and children were traveling barefooted and 
destitute of provisions, and that many were dying daily 
of starvation and exposure. However, his very pitiful 
tale was not credited to any great extent by our com- 
pany. His motive, probably, was to induce us to go by^ 
the way of the Mormon settlement and sell them a por- 
tion of our stock at whatever price they might feel willing 
to pay. Captain Thing sold him a cow, much against the 
will of a majority of the company. 

They have agents along the road to decoy immigrants 
through their settlements and then make as much out of 
them as possible. (Traveled 2^ miles.) 

Tuesday, September 4. 

Started in good season this morning and in seven miles 
of travel we crossed a fork of Mary's River — coming 
from the north — after which we traveled 16 miles and 
camped on the river, where we found good grass. 

We passed over some sand hills today where the road 
was extremely dusty. After traveling a few miles over 
this dusty road on a warm day a while man will be 



THE OVEELAXD TRAIL 79 

equally as black as a negro. The dust here is different 
from anything of the kind that I have ever before seen. 
It bears a strong resemblance to ashes in some respects, 
both in appearance and smell, and seems to contain quite 
a large percentage of alkali. 

Wednesday,, September 5. 

We started this morning at sunrise and passed down 
the Humboldt a few miles, where we met a large train of 
Mormon teams, 53 days from Sutter's Fort in the Sac- 
ramento River valley, on their way to Salt Lake City. 
They report the miners in California as doing well, and 
some of them stated that they had as much gold as they 
wished for. 

Traveled 15 miles in the forenoon and 10 in the after- 
noon and camped on the river, where we found but little 
grass. 

Thursday, September 6. 

Started in the morning and went down the river three 
miles, when we left the same and commenced ascending a 
mountain, and traveled 18 miles through a mountainous 
country and over a rough road before we again inter- 
sected the river. We then traveled down the river a mile 
and camped. Grass poor. 

Our stock is again in poor condition for traveling, and 
we have yet a long road before us before we reach the 
Sacramento valley. Our cattle, which are our principal 
dependence for our food, are almost destitute of fat or 
suet, and are composed chiefly of hide, horns, cords and 
gristle and lean, flabby meat. It is not very nutritious 



80 THE GOLD SEEKEKS OF '49 

living. Our appetites are wonderfully good. We have 
sometimes boiled the hide when we had plenty of time. 

Friday, September 7. 

Decamped at sunrise this morning and traveled 11 
miles in the forenoon over a very poor and barren 
country. 

In the afternoon we met a train of United States Gov- 
ernment teams from Oregon, under the command of Gen. 
Joel Palmer. This train left Oregon early in the spring, 
and came by the way of California, where it is thought 
it remained a long time. It was sent from Oregon with 
provisions for the benefit of the United States soldiers 
who are on their way thither to assist the Oregonians in 
repelling the barbarous attacks of the Indians upon their 
settlements, it is said, and General Palmer expects to 
meet the command near Fort Hall. 

General Palmer reports having had a serious battle 
with the Digger Indians at Mud Lake, where he lost one 
man killed and had two or three wounded. 

Traveled 10 miles in the afternoon and camped on the 
river, where we found good grass. 

Saturday, September 8. 

Traveled down the river 10 miles in the morning, 
when we left it and pursued a straight course over a 
barren plain on which nothing grows except wild sage 
and greasewood. 

After traveling four miles across the desert we again 
intersected the river and camped. Some of our company 




SAN FRANCISCO. 1849. 



THE OVERLAND TRAIL 81 

who followed the trail are in advance of the train, and 
will probably camp with some other train. 

The days are very warm but the nights are cool and 
pleasant. 

Sunday, September 9. 

Finding a good supply of grass at this camp ground we 
did not move our camp today. 

Monday, September 10. 

Broke camp at six o'clock this morning and traveled 
down the river 12 miles in the forenoon and 13 in the 
afternoon and camped. Grass poor. 

Tuesday, September ii. 

Decamped at 5.30 o'clock this morning and traveled 
II miles in the forenoon and 12 in the afternoon. The 
road down this river is comfortably good, but is very 
dry and dusty. The weather has been extremely warm 
today. 

Wednesday, September 12. 

Traveled ten miles in the forenoon and nine in the 
afternoon and camped on the river. A slight shower of 
rain fell during the night. 

Thursday, September 13. 

Traveled 16 miles in the forenoon and eight more in 
the afternoon and camped on the river, where we found 
a limited quantity of grass. 



82 the gold seekers of '49 

Friday, September 14. 

Traveled 12 miles in the forenoon and halted where 
grass was not very plentiful. In the afternoon we traveled 
five miles farther, when we came to another fork in the 
road. 

The left hand road is the old trail and leads down the 
river to the "Sink," as it is called, it being where the 
water of the river disappears in the sandy desert, as is 
the case with a majority of the streams of the ''Great 
Interior Basin." 

From the ''Sink" the road passes thence over a desert 
plain to Salmon Trout River, and thence across the 
Sierra Nevada Mountains to the Sacramento valley. The 
distance from this place to the Sacramento valley, ac- 
cording to the best information in our possession, is about 
300 miles. 

The other, or right hand road, is called the Cherokee 
Cutoff, and the distance is said to be but 180 miles from 
this place to the Feather River gold mines. 



CHAPTER III. 

THE HUMBOLDT KIVER TKAIL 

The question arose, which of the two roads shall we 
pursue — follow the old road — the advantages and disad- 
vantages of which we are pretty well informed; or shall 
we risk the new one of which we know nothing, except 
from unreliable reports. 

The question was submitted to a vote of the company, 
and it was in favor of trying the ''Cutoff," as it is called, 
with scarcely a dissenting vote. Haynes and Fifield, who 
left the company at Raft River, left a posted notice here, 
which showed them to be several days in advance of us. 
They chose the old trail, and cautioned us against taking 
the new one, as it was their opinion that it was a longer 
and a poorer road. 

The "Cutoff" leaves the Humboldt River at a bend, 
where it curves more southerly, and at what in later 
times was called "Wannamucca" on the Central Pacific 
Railroad. The "Cutoff" leaves the river and crosses a 
desert plain, very barren and slightly undulating, in a 
westerly direction. 

We left the Humboldt with the expectation of being at 
the gold mines in about a week, providing the reports were 
reliable as to the distance. We traveled 14 miles after 
leaving the river before we found water. At that place 
we found a spring, but there being several trains camped 

83 



84 THE GOLD SEEKERS OF '49 

here tonight, it was with great difficulty that we could 
procure water sufficient for the needs of our mules and 
horses. 

There is not a spear of grass to be found in this sec- 
tion, and we were compelled to tie our mules to sage brush 
to keep them from straying away, without a particle of 
food. (Distance, 31 miles.) 

Saturday, September 15. 

We started this morning at 5.30 o'clock and traveled 
19 miles across a barren, undulating desert, when we 
came to a place known as the Rabbit Wells, where four 
or five wells, some 8 or 10 feet deep, have been excavated 
by the immigrants in advance for the purpose of obtain- 
ing water for themselves and their stock. 

These wells, with one or two exceptions, were filled 
with dead animals. Having seen the water at the bottom 
and being so eager to obtain it, they rushed head first 
into them, where they perished and could not well be 
extricated. The water of these wells is of a poor quality 
and proved to be scarce. 

After traveling six or seven hours over a very dusty 
road on a hot day, it is far better than none. There was 
a large number of immigrants at the wells and it was 
difficult to obtain a sufficient quantity of water, it being 
dipped up with tin cups as fast as it ran into the wells. 
We remained there one hour and a half and obtained 
what water we were able to, but could get very little for 
our animals. Neither was there anything for them to 
eat. 



THE HUMBOLDT RIVER TRAIL 85 

As we had no beef killed we had nothing for dinner. 
Beef had been our principal dependence for some time 
past. It had become very poor and we had almost 
nothing to cook it with. There are no ''Buffalo chips" 
this side of the Rockies. 

We started in the afternoon and at about sunset came 
in sight of Black Rock (Spring), which was then about 
nine miles distant across a level, barren plain. 

When within about six miles of Black Rock one of 
the mules which I was driving became so exhausted that 
he refused to go any farther, and I was obliged to unpack 
and leave him with the pack by the roadside ; after which 
I reached Black Rock at about eleven o'clock at night. 

The company, with a few exceptions, had arrived in 
advance of me and were principally asleep. I traveled 
the whole distance (40 miles) on foot, and drove two 
mules and one horse, which made considerable extra 
travel. I had no dinner or supper, and after arriving at 
Black Rock, rolled myself in my blankets and was soon 
asleep. 

Sunday, September 16. 

The country over which we made forty miles yesterday 
is known as the Black Rock Desert, and the road is liter- 
ally strewn with dead animals — cattle, horses and mules. 
The stench of these dead and decaying carcasses con- 
tributes largely to render the traveling still more dis- 
agreeable than it would otherwise be. 

The Black Rock Spring, so-called, is a spring several 
feet in diameter, out of which the water is continually 
boiling at or near a boiling point. The water may be 



86 THE GOLD SEEKEES OF ^49 

drank after being cooled sufficiently, but is not very good 
water. 

We started early this morning and traveled three miles 
v^here we found a small quantity of grass and camped. 
This is the first grass that our animals have found to 
eat since Friday noon — nearly 45 hours — since which 
time we have traveled over 60 miles. After we had 
camped we had a beef animal slaughtered, and a little 
before noon we managed to get a breakfast, which was 
the first that some of us had eaten since Friday night. 

There are several hot springs in this vicinity. Beef 
will cook quite quickly in them. 

Some of our mules and cattle were left behind on the 
road yesterday, with a few packs by the roadside. 

George Carlton, with two or three others of the com- 
pany, went back to procure the packs, together with as 
many of the animals as were able to be brought into 
camp. They succeeded in bringing into camp the whole 
number that had been left by our company. (Distance, 
3 miles.) 

Monday, September 17. 

Started in the afternoon and traveled eleven miles 
where we found some grass and camped. 

Tuesday, September 18. 

We remained here until afternoon, when we broke 
camp and traveled 15 miles to Mud Lake, where we 
stopped for the night. Our course since leaving Hum- 
boldt has been nearly northwest and we have traveled 
upward of 80 miles. 



THE HUMBOLDT KIVER TRAIL 87 

The country is nearly all a barren desert, with very 
little vegetation except wild sage. What is known as 
Mud Lake resembles at this time a marsh more than a 
lake, and is covered with large coarse grass. It may, 
perhaps, be more of a lake at some seasons of the year. 
(Distance, 15 miles.) 

Wednesday, September 19. 

We did not move our camp today. 

This is the point where General Palmer's corps had a 
battle with the Indians a few weeks since, but we have 
not seen an Indian since we left the Humboldt River. 

A large percentage of the immigration took this route 
and have passed this point, but it is thought now that 
the report stating that it did not exceed 180 miles from 
the Humboldt to Feather River mines, was very unre- 
liable and untruthful. 

Thursday, September 20. 

We started in the morning and soon after entered a 
canyon and traveled 12 miles in the forenoon and halted 
where the rocky bluffs rise nearly 300 feet almost per- 
pendicularly on either side. 

Traveled up the canyon nine miles in the afternoon 
and camped at a spring. Canyon I believe to be a 
Spanish word and means a deep gorge, ravine, or 
gulch between high, steep banks, worn by water 
courses. 

Friday, September 21. 

Cold morning. Started at 7 o'clock in the morning and 
traveled up the canyon 12 miles in the forenoon over a 



88 THE GOLD SEEKEKS OF ^49 

very rough road. In the afternoon we traveled 7 miles 
and camped at a spring. 

Saturday, September 22. 

Started early in the morning and went over a ridge 
a distance of 7 miles, thence over a plain 10 miles and 
camped. 

We had a distant view of the Sierra Nevada Mountains 
today. 

Sunday, September 22,. 

Traveled 5 miles today and camped at a spring. 

Monday, September 24. 

Decamped early in the morning and after traveling 10 
miles, passed several hot springs. Went 9 miles farther 
and found good grass and water, where we halted two 
hours, after which we traveled 3 miles and camped at the 
base of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in some large tim- 
ber, it being the first large trees we have met with since 
coming into the Great Interior Basin, a distance of about 
700 miles. With the exception of a few small valleys along 
the streams and lakes and at the base of the mountains, 
the Great Basin seems to be a very barren country. It 
is a very disagreeable country to travel over. 

Tuesday, September 25. 

We started this morning and traveled northerly along 
the base of the Sierras about six miles. We then began 
to ascend toward the summit of the ridge, and after 



THE HUMBOLDT EIVER TEAIL 89 

traveling three miles up a very steep ascent we reached 
the summit. 

This seems to be the "Divide" between the waters of 
the Great Basin and those of the Pacific Ocean. After 
reaching the summit we soon began to descend and after 
a descent of one mile entered a beautiful valley. In the 
afternoon we traveled lo miles through a heavy growth 
of yellow pine timber and camped. 

It was after dark before we camped and we unpacked 
our mules at the top of a steep bluff overlooking a lake, 
known as Goose Lake. No water near our camp ground. 
The company is scattered tonight, having camped in sev- 
eral different places along the trail. 

After we had camped Mr. Carlton and myself volun- 
teered to go to the lake for water, and with buckets we 
started down the steep, rocky bluff which we found diffi- 
cult of descent, especially in the dark. The distance was 
about one-half mile to the base, or shore of the lake, 
where we anticipated finding an abundant supply of 
water. But to our great disappointment, we found 
nothing but a field of dry sand. 

However, we supposed we must be very near the 
shore of the lake, and started in that direction. We 
traveled about two miles farther over the dry sand, in- 
dulging the fond hope of soon reaching the waters of the 
lake, when we would have the privilege and pleasure of 
quenching our thirst, which was almost unbearable. 

But we were doomed to disappointment as we found 
nothing but a lake of sand — dry and difficult to travel 
over; and we returned-^climbed the mountain and lay 
down to rest as best we could. To be really thirsty, with 



90 THE GOLD SEEKERS OF '49 

no means of getting water, is truly a horrid sensation. 
(Distance, 20 miles.) 

Wednesday, September 26. 

We left camp early in the morning and eventually 
reached an abundant supply of water. 

We left the Oregon trail, which bears northerly along 
the west end of Goose Lake, our course being nearly 
south. Our camp last night was near the line separating 
the Territories of California and Oregon. We traveled 
down a valley and camped on a small mountain stream. 
Road good. (Distance, 17 miles.) 

Thursday, September 27. 

After traveling a short distance this morning we came 
to the head of Pitt River. 

Traveled down the valley 12 miles in the forenoon and 
9 in the afternoon and camped on the river, which is a 
rapid stream nearly as large as the Humboldt. 

Friday, September 28. 

Traveled down the river 23 miles and found an excel- 
lent road and a good supply of grass. 

Saturday, September 29. 

Traveled 20 miles over a rough road and camped on 
Pitt River. Grass good. 

Sunday. September 30. 
We did not move our camp today. Latitude 40° 7'. 



THE HUMBOLDT KIVEE TRAIL 91 

The valley along this river has a fertile soil and pro- 
duces a good quality and a sufficient quantity of grass, 
but is bordered on both sides by lofty mountains, tim- 
bered with pine, fir and spruce. The Indians are said to 
be very hostile, but we have not met with any since 
crossing the mountains. They are said to have killed 
several immigrants within a short time. 

Monday, October i. 

We left camp at an early hour and traveled down the 
river 14 miles in the forenoon and 8 in the afternoon. 
We found a good road and grass plentiful. 

Tuesday, October 2. 

We broke camp at 7 in the morning and soon after 
left the river and went over a rough, hilly road 12 miles, 
where we stopped near a small stream and had our 
lunch. In the afternoon we traveled 7 miles and camped 
at a spring. 

The road was uneven and through a heavy growth of 
timber. We met with some oak timber on the road today, 
it being the first we have seen since near the Missouri 
line. 

Wednesday, October 3. 

Started early and first traveled up a long hill, or moun- 
tain about 6 miles, and thence 5 miles farther, and finding 
no water we halted. In the afternoon we traveled 11 
miles, where we found good water and camped. The 
country through which we have traveled today is well 
timbered. 



93 the gold seekers of '49 

Thursday, October 4. 

Broke camp at 7 o'clock in the morning and traveled 
15 miles in the forenoon and halted at Little Goose Lake. 
We traveled 4 miles in the afternoon, when we found a 
bountiful supply of good grass and water and camped. 

Friday, October 5. 

We traveled 14 miles and camped at Feather Lake, it 
being the source of the north fork of Feather River, 
country appears to be nearly all very heavily timbered. 

Saturday, October 6. 

We traveled 6 miles through a dense forest aiid 
reached a branch of Feather River; then traveled down 
the river 6 miles, where we came into a large meadow ; 
thence down along the meadow 5 miles and camped. A 
branch of Feather River passes through this meadow and 
it is known as the Feather River Meadow. 

Sunday, October 7. 
Traveled down the river 2 miles and camped. 

Monday, October 8. 

It was thought by many of the company that it might 
be practical to follow the river down to the Feather River 
mines, and thus save much time and travel in avoiding 
the long, circuitous route by the way of the Sacramento 
valley and Lassen's Ranch, and consequently, six of us 
started in the morning with about two days' rations, pur- 



THE HUMBOLDT RIVER TRAIL 93 

sued a southerly course through the mountains and in 
six miles of travel came to a small stream. We then 
crossed a mountain ridge about 9 miles and came into 
a fine bottom prairie 8 miles in length with a small stream 
passing through the center. We went down the valley 
three miles, built a fire by the side of a large pine log, 
and ate our supper. The meal finished we laid ourselves 
down for the night — Indian fashion — keeping one at a 
time of the party on watch during the night to give the 
alarm should any Indians make their appearance. We 
discovered fresh Indian sigiis in the little valley today. 

Tuesday, October 9. 

The morning was cool and very foggy. We started as 
soon as it was fairly light, and went on down the little 
valley to the southern end, where the stream enters a 
deep, high canyon with high precipitous moutains on 
both sides. We traveled down the canyon about one 
mile farther and found the mountains so extremely 
rough, we became convinced that it would be an im- 
possibility to travel through them with mules and 
horses. We gave up the expedition and started for 
camp, where we arrived about one o'clock very much 
fatigued. 

We did not move our camp today. 

Wednesday, October 10. 

Traveled 10 miles in the forenoon and 8 miles in the 
afternoon and camped on Deer Creek. 



94 the gold seekers of '49 

Thursday, October ii. 

A part of the night was rainy, which was not very 
agreeable, as we have not had our tents set for a long 
time, or since we left Raft River. We traveled lo miles 
in the forenoon and halted at a spring where there was 
no grass. In the afternoon we went on 8 miles farther 
and camped at a spring. No grass. 

Friday, October 12. 

We started at one o'clock at night and traveled over a 
rough road through a dense forest 10 miles and halted, 
where we found water one-half mile north of the road — 
down a steep mountain — but no grass. 

Started again at 8 o'clock and after traveling six miles 
we emerged from the dense forest through which we 
have traveled for several days past, and came into a very 
barren country. Went five miles farther and halted, with 
neither grass nor water. 

In the afternoon we traveled nine miles and camped 
on Antelope Creek, one mile south of the road. The 
country through which we have traveled today is ex- 
tremely rough and barren. (Distance, 30 miles.) 

Saturday, October 13. 

Break camp in the morning and after three miles of 
travel we entered the Sacramento valley — the valley 
which we have so long wished to see. Traveled eight 
miles farther and halted on Deer Creek. 

In the afternoon we passed Lassen's Ranch and 
camped on the bank of the Sacramento River. (Distance, 
17 miles.) 



THE HUMBOLDT RIVER TRAII* 95 

The full distance from where we left the old trail at 

Winnemucca on the Humboldt to this place, as kept by 

me, is 466 miles; and since we left Independence, Mo., 

2,130 miles. 

Sunday, October 14. 

Moved our camp down the river one mile and camped 

again. 

Monday, October 15. 

We did not move our camp today. 

Tuesday, October 16. 

We traveled down the Sacramento 23 miles and 
camped on a creek. We have found fine grass since we 
entered this valley. 

Wednesday, October 17. 

We traveled 24 miles down the river and crossed 
Feather River and camped on the southern bank. 

We are now very near Feather River mines, which we 
were told we could reach in 180 miles from the forks 
of the roads on the Humboldt at Winnemucca. Instead, 
as per my account, which I believe is very nearly correct, 
the distance is 514 miles as we have traveled it. 

We left the Humboldt River, September 14, and 
reached here October 17, being 33 days on the "Green- 
horn's Cutoff," as it is now commonly known. Probably 
nearly one-half of the immigrants came by this route. 

Thursday, October 18. 

We remained encamped here today, endeavoring to 
make some division of the property of the Granite State 



96 THE GOLD SEEKERS OF '49 

and California Mining and Trading Company, but did 
not agree upon any plan that was satisfactory to a 
majority. 

Friday, October 19. 

A division of the stock — cattle, mules and horses — was 
effected in the forenoon, and some of us went up to the 
mines in the afternoon. A portion of the members ap- 
peared dissatisfied with the division. We had but few 
cattle left and they were very thin and in poor condition. 
Many of our mules and horses had died, and were left 
on the road; and those that were alive were nearly all 
seemingly worn out and of but little value. 

The Granite State and California Mining and Trading 
Company was this day dissolved by a unanimous vote of 
its members. 

It would have been dissolved long before it reached 
California had it not been for the beef cattle, which were 
the means of holding it together. They were their prin- 
ciple dependence for food, and it was not practical to 
divide them among small squads, as they would have 
been of very little benefit to them. 

When we entered the Sacramento valley we had but 
three or four young cattle and they were so very poor 
that they could scarcely travel. They constituted our 
entire stock of provisions. 

Two or three gross errors were committed by the man- 
agers before we left Boston, which were the cause, in 
great part, of the great length of time consumed on the 
road. First, the company should not have consisted of 
more than ten members, and it should not have been a 







-,:: 










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m 




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■'1 




^m 






fc>-^H]MlroMW|ESB^ iiiiiiSg' 


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From an Old Dra- 



SUTTER'S MILL, 1849. 



THE HUMBOLDT EIVER TEAIL 97 

joint stock company; but each member should have pro- 
vided for himself as he saw fit, with mules and pro- 
visions. 

Then we should have had good mules, not less than 
four years old, and such as had been broken to packing. 
The majority of our mules were not over two or three 
years of age and had never been broken. They were 
entirely unfit for the exceedingly strenuous journey 
"across the plains." For a pack train to drive cattle on 
that journey for their dependence for their provisions is 
a great absurdity. 

Had we traveled as rapidly as we expected and in- 
tended to have done when we started on the journey, we 
could not have driven our cattle very long until they 
would have died. 

Each man should have owned three or four trained 
mules in good condition. I am of the opinion that under 
good conditions and properly managed, the journey may 
be made, fairly easily, in 70 days, with a good pack train 
consisting of 10 or 12 active, energetic and courageous 
men. We were about 144 days on the road, or about 
tvv'ice the time that should have been needed under proper 
conditions and management. 

The last cutoff, or the "Greenhorn's Cutofif," as it 
became to be generally known, that we were induced to 
adopt proved to be more than 300 miles farther than it 
was represented to be in distance, and probably more than 
200 miles longer than the old California trail that we left. 

It was currently reported and probably with truth, that 
some time early in August, after the immigrants had 
begun to pass down the trail on the Humboldt River, a 



98 THE GOLD SEEKERS OF ^49 

man with a party was sent out over the mountains and 
deserts by Lassen, whose ranch was located on the Sac- 
ramento River, to induce so much of the immigration as 
possible to take that route and which he called the 
"Cherokee Cutoff, '' and represented the distance to be but 
1 80 miles to the Feather River mines, with a good road 
to travel over with many superior advantages over the 
old trail. 

This new route entered the Sacramento valley near the 
Lassen ranch, and as Lassen owned many cattle and 
horses, he was able to profit largely by his trade with the 
tired and famished immigrants. 

He probably succeeded in profiting several thousand 
dollars by his trade with the poor immigrants, and it Js 
currently reported that the immigrants have threatened 
his life, and that they have killed many of his cattle for 
food, without any remuneration to him. 

A large number of immigrants are still behind, many 
of them with little or no subsistence, and had not the 
Californians sent out mules, horses, cattle and provisions, 
probably many of them would have perished with starva- 
tion. 

The journey "across the plains" is a very hard experi- 
ence, the hardships and privations of which cannot be 
realized by any one who has not undertaken it. 

On the other hand, it presents much interesting scenery 
- the grand, the beautiful and the sublime. Lofty moun- 
tains and green, verdant valleys, majestic rivers and 
sandy, barren plains — all contribute, with much more, to 
make it a very interesting, and in a way, an enjoyable 
experience. 



THE HUMBOLDT KIVEE TRAIL 99 

Nature may be seen in its wildest grandeur where 
civilization and art have neither added to its usefulness 
nor retrenched its beauty.* 

The full distance traveled from Independence, Mo., to 
the Sacramento River, at Lassen's Ranch, as kept by me, 
is as follows : 

In May, 73 miles ; in June, 429 miles ; in July, 436 
miles; in August, 471 miles; in September, 523 miles; in 
October, 198 miles. This makes it 2,130 miles to Sac- 
ramento River. To Feather River, near Oroville, 2,178 
miles. 



CHAPTER V. 

THE LAND OF GOLD. 

The following' pages are from tlie original manuscript 
written by Kimball Webster, which relates a few of the 
many experiences in California from October, 1849, to June, 
1851, and in Oregon from June, 1851, to July, 1854. — Editor. 

At that time California and Oregon were both terri- 
tories and belonged to the United States, and both in 
a semi-primitive condition. California had been a part 
of Mexico until 1847, only two years prior to the time 
of which I am writing. This seems difficult to compre- 
hend at the present time, 1914, when California and 
Oregon have taken their places among the great and 
leading states of the Union, as to population, wealth and 
influences. 

On the arrival in California of the gold seekers of 1849, 
the prospects did not present as favorable and promising 
an appearance to a large percentage of the newly arrived 
immigrants as they had been led to picture to their imagi- 
nation. Very many of them had believed that once they 
were in the mines, gold would be found in such quantities 
it would require but a few weeks, or months at the most, 
for them to be able to gather enough of the precious 
metal to enable them to return to their homes independ- 
ent for the rest of their lives. 

100 



THE LAND OP GOLD 101 

Many, however, were doomed to a most sad and bitter 
disappointment, and far better would it have been for 
such had they remained at home and enjoyed the domestic 
pleasures which they had left behind. 

It was found that to make a success of mining gold 
from the California mines was one of the most laborious 
kinds of employment that a man could engage in; and 
required energy and perseverance to ensure a reasonably 
profitable return as a whole. 

Some, it is true, were fortunate in finding gold in such 
quantities as to enable them to gather a moderate fortune 
in comparatively a short time and return to their homes. 
But these were exceptions. 

I believe that one ounce of gold per day was above the 
average pay of the winers then actually at work in mining 
in the placer mines of California. 

There was then, and for years later, a large percentage 
of the California miners not at work. Some would be 
traveling through the mountains with pick, shovel and 
pan, together with as much provisions as they were able 
to carry — "prospecting," as it was called, or searching 
for a "rich lead." Sometimes their labors would be hap- 
pily and richly rewarded, but more often were they sadly 
disappointed. Many at that time were lying under 
friendly trees, or in their tents, having been stricken 
down by the prevalent diseases, at that time raging in the 
country, many dying almost daily. A very large number 
had been brought up without labor, and some were too 
indolent to labor ; or perhaps, had been clerks or students, 
and to make enough for their present needs was as much 



102 THE GOLD SEEKERS OF ^49 

as many were able to accomplish. Others would gamble 
at the Monte table, or at poker. 

Owing to the influx of immigration into the territory 
in such large numbers, it was deemed best by many of 
the people to form a state constitution, and then ask 
admission to the Union. Accordingly, a convention was 
called at Monterey, which framed a constitution, and a 
little later it was submitted to the people, who almost 
unanimously adopted it, and immediately forwarded it to 
Washington. 

The first gold dust seen by me in California was at 
Lassen's Ranch, near where we entered the Sacramento 
valley. At that point there were traders selling pro- 
visions, mining implements, clothing and other needed 
articles to the unfortunate immigrants who had entered 
the valley by the way of ''Greenhorn's Cutoff," and to 
miners that were traveling up the valley to Redding's 
mines ; these men taking in exchange gold dust which 
they wished with small scales provided for that purpose. 

Gold dust at sixteen dollars per ounce was the prin- 
cipal medium of exchange in California. Some of the 
dust was nearly clean, and some had considerable quan- 
tities of black sand mixed with it. This at first seemed 
to be a very inconvenient manner of making change and 
paying for goods, but it possessed its good qualities. 

The newcomer with his exalted ideas, on seeing the 
small quantity which he would receive for one, two, three 
or even five dollars, and so very fine was the dust, that 
it looked to him almost insignificant. Some of it was so 
very fine that it almost required a microscope to be able 



THE LAIsTD OF GOLD 103 

to discover its separate particles. A person must be able 
to earn something to make a living here. 

Flour retails at 40 cents per pound ; pork from 50 to 
75 cents; potatoes at $1.50 per pound; sugar 50 cents; 
eggs $5.00 per dozen; a pick or shovel $8 to $10 each; 
rockers to wash gold with in the mines, from $40 to $50 
each ; a quicksilver gold rocker $300 ; lumber in the mines 
sold for $2.00 per foot, or at the rate of $2000 per thou- 
sand feet, and at Sacramento City it sold at six hundred 
dollars per thousand. 

Other necessaries sold at equally as high prices in pro- 
portion. Such seemingly exorbitant prices seemed at 
first to the newly arrived immigrant as if he was being 
robbed. It seemed far different to those that have been 
here a few weeks. In buying provisions or other neces- 
saries they do not appear to think any more about paying 
the California prices than they would the customary 
prices when at their homes. 

This at present is a fast country, and money must be 
made fast or the miners could not make a comfortable 
livelihood, having to pay such prices. It is said that in 
case a person is taken sick here and employs a physician, 
that the M. D. will size his "pile," whether large or small. 
Probably this was not strictly true in all cases, but in 
many cases they collected very exorbitant fees. It was 
also a prevailing opinion among the miners that many of 
the physicians now in the country do not understand the 
prcA^ailing diseases of the country; and that many of 
them are the cause of more sickness and death than they 
are the means of saving lives. How far this is true I will 
not undertake to determine ; but from v/hat I saw at this 



104 THE GOLD SEEKERS OF ^49 

time and later, there were apparently a few good, skilled 
physicians in the country, and very many whose success 
seemed to be quite poor and unfortunate for some cause. 

It seemed to require but two things only to kill the 
strongest man in California, however slight the disease 
might at first be. First, to apply for a doctor; and 
second, to lose his courage and believe he would soon 
die, and that he would never see his home and friends 
again. With this combination I never knew the first 
man to recover under similar circumstances, in the early 
days of California. 

The population of the country at this time was a 
heterogeneous mass from almost all parts of the civilized 
world. New England is well represented. The majority 
of the Yankees came by the way of Cape Horn; some 
across the Isthmus of Panama, and a few across the 
country. 

Missouri probably had more immigrants in California, 
by far, than any other state, and for some reason which 
is not easy to explain, they were not so popular as those 
from most other states. They were popularly known by 
others as "Pukes." Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin and 
Iowa all sent large numbers. New York sent a large 
delegation, the larger part by water, rom the southern 
slaveholding states there were but comparatively few. 

England, France, Germany and Ireland were all quite 
largely represented. Also Sidney, New South Wales, 
which had formerly been England's penal colony for 
many years. Very large numbers came from this colony, 
a great majority of them being former convicts. These 
were by far the worst class of people then in California. 



THE LAND OF GOLD 105 

They were principally English, Scotch and Irish, but the 
greatest number were Scotch. They had formerly been 
transported from England, Scotland and Ireland for 
some serious crime committed, and dared not return to 
their homes, many of them being under penalty of death. 
But they could come to California and there was no 
penalty attached, or no one to question their right to do 
so, and they enjoyed equal rights with the American 
citizen. There were also many Mexicans and Chilians at 
work in the mines, packing mule trains with provisions, 
mining tools, etc. Many of them were very treacherous, 
being mixed breeds, and if possible, worse than the 
Sidney Ducks, as they were called, and I believe more 
treacherous than the North American Indian. 

All classes of people were here — mechanics, clerks, 
men of all professions mingled together to make up the 
population. Here were doctors and lawyers hard at work 
in the mines, clerks who had never before performed a 
day's work of manual labor, with a red flannel shirt on, 
their sleeves rolled up. armed with a pick and shovd, 
digging their fortunes from the banks and bars of the 
rivers. Ministers of the Gospel seeking wild specula- 
tions, and a few of them seated behind a table dealing 
"Monte," or some other game of chance. Sailors and 
soldiers also formed a considerable percentage of the 
mining population, and seemed to be just as independent 
as a member of Congress, and were probably making, 
many of them, larger pay. 

On Friday, October 19, The Granite State and Cali- 
fornia Mining and Trading Company, about which there 



1-06 THE GOLD SEEKERS OE '49 

was SO much talk in Boston and Pelham, was practically 
dissolved, its former members going various ways. 

Some went to Sacramento City ; some to Feather River 
mines; and some in other directions, each for himself, 
and no longer trammeled by the restrictions of a joint 
stock company. 

The Pelham folks moved up to Long's Bar on Feather 
River, some live or six miles from the foothills of the 
Sierra Nevada mountains. At this place there was a 
small town consisting of a few stores and quite a large 
number of mining camps. 

A few of the miners had tents, some had brush 
shanties, and many more with nothing for a shelter but 
the trees. At night there was no necessity for shelter^ 
the weather being clear and dry without a particle of 
dew to moisten the earth. 

Here the miners were at work along the banks of the 
river, some digging in the crevices of the rocks and 
washing the pay dirt in a pan, while others were taking 
their dirt from the banks in larger quantities and wash- 
ing it in cradles made for that purpose. The country 
about this place is hilly and is covered with a growth of 
several species of oak. The Live Oak is an evergreen 
and is scrubby and small. The White Oak is of a larger 
size, but is low and branching. 

The land here is not very heavily timbered, much of 
it being *'Oak Openings." The soil is red. 

Some of the Pelham folks that came with us thought 
perhaps it would be wise and profitable to form a com- 
pany and send to Sacramento City for their winter pro- 
visions ; and accordingly the writings were drawn up and 



THE LAND OF GOI-D 107 

signed by the following persons: Doctor Amos Batch- 
elder, George Carlton, Samuel Worcester Gage, Robert 
Thorn, Jacob Morris, Joseph Davis Gage, Austin W. 
Pinney, together with two or three other members of 
the former Granite State Company. I was given an in- 
vitation to take a share in the newly formed company, 
but I declined, not being prepared to join another mining 
company at present. 

The company immediately dispatched two of its men 
with mules to Sacramento to procure provisions and 
other necessary articles, in readiness for the rainy sea- 
son which was expected within a month. 

I was the owner of one mule Vv^hich I forwarded to 
Sacramento by those men for sale for whatever price 
it might sell for. I received in return $62. 

On Sunday, October 21, S. W. Gage and Austin W. 
Pinney concluded they would leave the new company, 
and they with myself traveled up the river 8 miles to 
Bidwell's Bar, another mining camp, where we agreed to 
commence work the next morning on a dam for a com- 
pany at $6 per day each, board included. 

On Monday morning we shouldered our blankets and 
w^alked to Bidwell's in season to perform three-fourths 
of a day's work. We also labored Tuesday and Wednes- 
day. 

As this was the first real manual labor performed by 
us for many months, and the weather being excessively 
warm and the work we were required to perform very 
laborious, it was not an easy matter for us to put in the 
time. We were just in from the mountains where the at- 
mosphere was cool and bracing, and the locality here was 



108 THE GOLD SEEKEIIS OF ^49 

on the river, surrounded by high hills and mountains, 
where the sun's rays fell unobstructed by any friendly 
shade trees. The labor was of the hardest kind. We 
were buiding a dam across Feather River for the pur- 
pose of turning the stream from its natural channel for 
a short distance, so the bed of the stream could be 
worked and the gravel washed to obtain whatever gold it 
might contain. At that time it was supposed to be large 
quantities. 

The company for which we were at work consisted of 
about twenty members, who were at work with us. They 
were in haste to complete the dam before the rainy sea- 
son should set in ; consequently they worked more hours 
in a day than they otherwise would have done. 

We were obliged to carry large rocks and loads of 
gravel, cobble stones, etc., from the shore to the dam on 
hand barrows, which was called by us ''soul carting." 
After we had worked two and three-fourths days, Mr. 
Gage thought he could not endure it any longer, so we 
concluded to quit and commence mining on our own 
account and be independent. 

Consequently we bought an old "cradle" for $50, two 
tin pans for $8, a pick and shovel, and commenced opera- 
tions. Our cooking apparatus consisted of one tin kettle 
for which we paid $4, a fry pan, a few knives and 
forks, three or four tin plates, some tin cups and a 
coffee pot, which we inherited from the old company. 

For a shelter we had the broad canopy of heaven ; and 
for a bed dry sand. 

To us the mines presented a novel and interesting ap- 
pearance. There were at this time no less than seventy- 



THE LAND OF GOLD 109 

five to one hundred mining cradles on Bidvvell's Bar, 
with two or three men at work at each cradle. 

The cradles were set along at the water's edge. The 
dirt was carried from the bank to the water in tin pans 
and poured into the upper part of the machine — or that 
part called the screen. This was a box about 15 inches 
square, with a sheet iron bottom perforated with holes 
about one-half inch in diameter. 

A pan full of pay dirt was dug and turned into the 
screen and water poured upon it freely, while the cradle 
was rocked vigorously. This separated the coarse gravel 
and small stones from the sand, which passed to the bot- 
tom of the machine and was carried away by the water, 
while the gold being much heavier than the sand and 
gravel, was left at the bottom of the cradle. 

The cradles were from three to four feet in length, 
with two or three bars across the bottom. The miners at 
this place were making from $10 to $30 a day, and a 
great majority were immigrants that had just come in 
over the country, and consequently were new hands at 
mining, each learning by experience the knack of sepa- 
rating the gold from the sand as best he could. We had 
endeavored to gain some information in regard to the 
process before we commenced here, but had not suc- 
ceed farther than what knowledge wc could acquire by 
w^atching others do the work, and imitating the process as 
far as possible. 

Everything in the mines is quiet, and althougli traders 
and others leave large quantities of gold dust entirely 
exposed, there is said to be almost no thefts committed. 
Many of the traders are also miners, and very many have 



110 THE GOLD SEEKERS OF '49 

not even a tent in which to store their goods, and have 
no safe or bank to deposit it in — not even a trunk to place 
their gold in to keep it from the sight of those who are 
easily tempted, or are devoid of principle. 

I have seen quantities of several thousand dollars 
worth of gold dust lying in full sight, while the owner 
at the same time would be away at work at the river, a 
quarter or a half mile away. 

If a person is so unfortunate as to be taken seriously 
sick here it seems almost an impossibility for him to 
recover and regain his former strength. This probably is 
owing much more to the manner of living, and to the 
poor quality of food, than to the climate. 

Scurvy is very prevalent among the land immigrants, 
and in this country at this time is one of the most serious 
diseases we have among us. To cure the scurvy requires 
a vegetable diet, which cannot be had at any price in 
the mines at the present time. 

The flour is almost all musty, having been shipped 
around Cape Horn in the hold of a vessel ; pork is rusty, 
as it is called, some of it nearly spoiled. Flour and pork 
are the two principal articles of diet. 

Sometimes beef can be had and that is of the best 
quality. California beef is just as good as any. 
Physician's charges are exorbitant, fifty or a hundred 
dollars not being considered at all high for a professional 
visit. This is certainly a very hard country for a sick 
man. It is often said that if a man is taken sick here 
that he is no better than dead. 

There are some cases of recovery, however. Many 
die of scurvy, of fevers of different kinds, and other 



THE LAND OF GOLD. Ill 

diseases. The sudden changes of cHmate probably may 
cause considerable sickness. 

For the last two or three weeks before entering the 
valley, we had cool weather with frosty nights, being in 
the mountains at a high altitude, but here, although the 
nights are cool and very pleasant, the days are so very 
warm that the thermometer stands at ioo° in the shade. 
Many whose food was largely salted provisions during the 
journey across the plains from Missouri to Sacramento 
valley, got their systems impregnated with salt and 
grease, and so became easy victims to the scurvey. 

The miners generally appear to be in excellent spirits, 
and seem to enjoy life as well as the circumstances of 
their conditions will admit. A few of them have tents, 
some have brush shanties, but by far the larger portion 
camp in the open air, or under friendly trees, where they 
have a good opportunity to study astronomy after they 
lie down, by watching the moon and the stars. It is said 
by many, and it seems to be true, that for the moon to 
shine in a persons face while sleeping, is very injurious 
to the eyes. I have known some cases where persons have 
become almost blind, with no other good reason assigned. 
I believe it to be a safe plan for all persons who are 
accustomed to sleeping in the open air to always shade 
their face from the moon. From my own experience, I 
believe I have suffered with my eyes to a considerable 
degree from that cause. A person^s eyes seem to become 
injured to a considerable extent before they are aware 
that anything wrong is taking place. What power, if 
any, the lunar rays have upon the human eye I am unpre- 
pared to explain. 



112 THE GOLD SEEKERS OF '49 

The miners principally do their own cooking, and 
washing, if they have any done. 

Their living is most commonly fried pork and flap- 
jacks, or flippers as they are called, and fresh beef, which 
1 believe is as good as any beef that can be found. One 
pound of this beef seems to be worth as much as several 
pounds of the miserable poor, cordy stuff that we called 
beef and ate for food on the journey to California. This 
is as fat and juicy as could be desired. 

On Thursday, October 26, 1849, we commenced min- 
ing and set our cradle on the lower point of Bidwell's 
Bar, where we kept it running through the day, with the 
exception of a short time at noon. 

As new miners we thought that the more and faster 
we washed the dirt, the more gold dust we should have 
to our credit at night, and consequently we kept the 
screen full all day and crowded it through as fast at it 
was possible. When night came we took it out of the 
cradle into a pan and tried to separate the black sand 
from the gold dust. But for us that was the most diffi- 
cult operation of the whole process. 

When we commenced we had nearly a pailful of the 
sand, and after a time we had succeeded in reducing it 
very materially in quantity, but could not separate the 
gold entirely from the sand, and consequently v^e were 
unable to ascertain the amount of gold that we had ac- 
quired for our day's work. However, we concluded that 
we were not doing as well as we desired and decided to 
look up another claim. 

Our claim was at the extreme point of the Bar and 




From an Old Piint. 



MINING SCENE. 



THE LAND OF GOLD 113 

would soon run out, or become exhausted, as it is called 
by the miners. 

The next morning we found a claim a short distance 
below on the opposite side of the river that had been 
worked for a considerable distance into the bank. There 
was an old rocker in the hole that was made from a tree, 
it having been dug out. Probably this was left here for 
the purpose of holding the claim if that should be 
desirable. 

We learned that the men who had been working the 
claim had gone up the river and were engaged in building 
a log cabin. 

We thought they were not entitled to hold a claim here 
and one in the mountains at the same time, so we moved 
the old machine out the hole where it would not trouble 
us and went to work. 

We worked five days before we separated the gold 
from the black sand and did not know how well we 
were doing, but on making the separation we found we 
had averaged very nearly one ounce each per day, with 
which we were fairly well satisfied as a beginning. 

Could we have continued indefinitely to make as good 
pay, it would have been better than we had dared to hope. 
The weather continued warm and dry until Tuesday, 
October 30, when it became cloudy and presented a very 
strong appearance of rain. 

It did not storm, however, before night, when the rain 
began to descend and it continued to fall nearly all night. 
This was not very agreeable to us as we were sleeping 
without shelter on the ground, which soon began to 
grow damp and cold. Our situation was no worse than 



114 THE GOLD SEEKEllS OF '4:9 

that of hundreds of others who were caught m a similar 
condition. 

Very few of the miners had any shelter and the best 
equipped had nothing but tents. A few days previous 
we had been warned by an old Californian that when the 
rainy season should begin the rain would descend in tor- 
rents. He said the miners were sure to be caught in a 
bad and unfortunate situation. 

The first shower of the rainy season might be expected 
to continue for about four weeks. We afterwards 
learned to our sorrow that his statement was nearly cor- 
rect. 

The rain commenced on the evening of the 30th day 
of October, and until November 21st it rained more or 
less 19 days out of the 23. The greater part of the 
time it was so very wet that it was useless to undertake 
to work. 

The river was swollen to such an extent that the bars 
along its shores were covered with water and could not 
be worked. The natural roads down the valley to Sac- 
ramento City became so very soft and muddy that pack 
mules could not travel them with packs, and provisions 
were boated up the river as far as possible, and then 
carried upon the miners' backs. 

The limited stock of provisions in the mines at the 
beginning of the rainy season was soon exhausted, and 
consequently food soon became very scarce and 
extremely high. Flour advanced from 40 cents to $1.50 
per pound, and much of it that was sold at that exorbi- 
tant price was so badly hurt that it required the use of 
a hatchet to cut it in pieces to remove it from the barrel. 



THE LAND OF GOLD 115 

Other provisions became equally as expensive in propor- 
tion, and were difficult to procure at any price. 

When the rainy season commenced a great number 
began to prepare some protection or shelter. Some built 
themselves small cloth or canvas tents, others constructed 
small log huts, while a few dug holes in the ground and 
covered them over Indian fashion. Not a few left the 
mines for the city, where provisions could be had at a 
lower price. Gage, Pinney and myself, when the rains 
commenced, procured a shelter in a large tent that be- 
longed to some New Yorkers, and which stood near 
where we had been camping. 

We paid two dollars each per week for the privilege 
of sleeping in the tent, and found our own blankets, and 
we considered ourselves very fortunate in obtaining so 
good a shelter. 

About the loth of November, Mr. Gage being some- 
what indisposed, left us and went down and joined the 
Pelham company, about two miles above Long's Bar. 
They were engaged in building a log cabin and making 
other preparations for the long rainy season. Pinney and 
myself bought a claim in the bank of the river, for 
which we paid $40. It had formerly been quite produc- 
tive, but had been worked back into the bank consider- 
ably. We found it to be very little, if any better, than 
our old claim where we began mining. 

From the 30th of October to the 21st of November 
we labored as much as the state of the weather and the 
high stage of the water would admit, but owing to the 
large proportion of rainy weather and the many other 
discouragements under which we labored, and also to 



116 THE GOLD SEEKEHS CF '49 

the high prices of provisions, we could no more than earn 
our expenses, and we were doing far better than the 
average of the miners about Bidwell's at that time. 
Finally we concluded to leave the mines, for a time at 
least, to explore the valley and see if we could find any- 
thing to do. Accordingly we started on the afternoon of 
the 22nd of November and traveled down the river about 
13 miles to Mayhew's ranch, or rather tent, near the 
foothills. 

Here we tried to procure something for supper, but 
all that could be bought in the line of provisions of any 
kind was some raw venison. 

We started a fire under a tree and roasted our meat 
on a forked stick, and ate it without salt. This we found 
quite dry and not the best of living, but it was the best, 
and all, that our money would buy, consequently we were 
compelled to make the best of it. We slept under a large 
oak tree, and in the morning roasted and ate some more 
of our venison, after which we proceeded on our way 
down the valley. 

After traveling about ten miles we came to the ranch 
of Charles H. Burch, where we found a boat ready to 
leave for Sacramento City early the next morning, and 
we concluded to engage a passage for that place. How- 
ever, upon making application, we learned that the seats 
were all engaged. The boat was ov/ned by Mr. Burch 
and was only a whaleboat which would seat about 
twenty persons. 

Thomas D. Bonner was captain. Captain Bonner was 
formerly president of the New Hampshire Temperance 
Society, but had resided in Massachusetts. Some time 



THE LAND OF GOLD 117 

previous to his embarkation for California he was said 
to be quite a poet in his way and composed many of 
the songs used at the temperance meetings, etc. He 
was formerly, according to his own account of his pre- 
vious life, a real street drunkard — a mere sot. He called 
himself a reformed drunkard now. 

After learning that we could not procure passage 
aboard the boat, we thought we would construct a raft 
on which we could float to Sacramento at our leisure. 

However, we could not find any suitable timber with 
which to build a raft, and further, Mr. Burch said he 
was well acquainted with the river between here and 
Sacramento, and that he should advise no person to at- 
tempt to make the passage on a raft — that by doing so 
they most probably would lose their lives, unless they 
were good swimmers. He had known of two or three 
parties that had attempted it, but all were shipwrecked 
and lost all they had with them. He said the river was 
full of snags and sand bars, and that it was as much 
as he could do to pilot a good boat through safely. 

His graphic account of the river below exploded our 
calculations in regard to attempting a passage by raft 
to the city. At this time it was almost impossible to 
travel to Sacramento by land, the road being very muddy 
with numerous slough crossings, which were full of 
water with neither bridges nor ferries. At some places 
the Sacramento had already overflowed its low bottom 
lands. 

Burch was an old Californian who came to Oregon by 
way of the overland route in 1842 or 1843. He re- 
mained in that territory two or three years, when he 



118 THE GOLD SEEKERS OF '49 

came to California, then Mexico, and had since resided 
here, where he was in the army of Col. John C. Fremont 
in the Mexican war, 1847. He was formerly from 
Maryland and has no family. He was rough in his ad- 
dress and extremely profane. 

He had taken a claim on the bank of Feather River, 
upon which he was intending to construct a house the 
following winter. He made a proposition to give us 
em.ployment until he should complete his house at a 
salary of $4.50 each per day and board. 

This, considering the high prices of provisions, and 
the large proportion of Vv^et v/eather, was as well as we 
would be likely to do at that time, and consequently we 
agreed to work for him until such time as we could do^ 
better, or as long a time as we all should be satisfied. 

Mr. Burch contemplated the construction of a house 
by putting hewn posts into the ground and nailing on to 
them weather boards which were riven from oak logs. 

A house of this kind would not answer a very good 
purpose in a cold climate, but was tight enough to be 
free from leakage and would be a very good shelter for 
California. 

This point was about twenty miles above the junction 
of the Feather and Yuba rivers, and 80 or 90 miles above 
the mouth of the Feather, where it intersects the Sac- 
ramento River. The surrounding country was nearly 
level, and was covered with a growth of large, scattering, 
branching oak trees. The soil was of a sandy nature, 
and was not as fertile as it was in some other localities. 
Some of the oak trees were very large but were low 
and branching. 



THE LAXD OF GOLD 119 

I measured one that was eleven feet in diameter near 
the ground — "a sturdy old oak'' surely, that had stood 
the storms, the winds and the fires of many centuries. 

A little farther away from the river the soil was more 
of a clayey nature and there was considerable live oak 
growth. Some of the soil was red — a kind of red clay — 
and seemed to New Hampshire people as being almost 
worthless for cultivation. 

The live oak was small and scrubby, an evergreen 
almost worthless for timber. 

The white oak produces large quantities of acorns 
which made good, nourishing food for swine. Fremont, 
I believe, stated that he had seen acorns grown from a 
single tree to cover the ground under its branches four 
inches in thickness. This I believe to be an exaggeration 
in keeping with man^y others made by that illustrious 
pathfinder. 

Mr. Pinney and myself commenced work for Mr. C. 
H. Burch on Monday, November 26. A few days later, 
James M. Butler, one of our party of Pelham boys, 
came down from the mines in search of employment, and 
engaged himself to work for Mr. Burch, commencmg to 
work with us at a uniform salary. 

Robert Thom, another of our Pelham friends, was at 
this time working for his board about one mile up the 
valley from the Burch ranch at a place known as the 
*'Hole in the Ground." This resort derived its name 
from the fact that it was a mere hole excavated in the 
ground and covered with mud, etc., so as to shed the 
rain. It was owned by a fellow known as "Ned," and 



120 THE GOLD SEEKERS OF '49 

one or two others, all from Sidney. It was conducted 
as a tavern or a stopping place for travelers. 

Mr. Thorn was expected to get and prepare wood, 
cook, and do other work. We went up to visit him one 
evening and gave him an invitation to go to work with 
us at $4.50, as Mr. Burch desired to employ one more 
man, for a few weeks at least. 

To this proposition Robert replied, that in all prob- 
ability Mr. Burch would not have work for a man much 
more than one month, and in case he should begin work 
for him, he was afraid he would lose his place with 
Ned. He said his labor was not very hard and he 
thought he would remain for the present and make sure 
of his board. 

It seemed to me that if a man was afraid of losing 
his place when he was at work for his board only in 
California, he certainly could have very little ambition. 
I thought he had better have remained at home with 
his family, and saved the long and tedious journey across 
the plains; but he was firm and decided and remained 
there until spring. 

Mr. Burch desired to contract a ditch to be dug to 
enclose a field containing ten acres on the river bank, and 
Pinney contracted to do the work at the price of two 
dollars per rod, with the understanding that Mr. Burch 
should board him, and that the ditch should be four feet 
deep and four feet wide at the top and twenty inches 
wide at the bottom, and that it was not to be commenced 
until we had finished the other job. About 120 rods of 
ditch were to be dug. After Pinney had made fftc con- 
tract to dig the ditch he thought the price was too low 



THE LxiND OF GOLD 121 

and he wished me to promise to do a part of it. I 
thought as he did, that the price was low for excavating 
so large a ditch, but I promised to help him to do it, and 
also Mr. Butler desired to do a portion of it. 

After working for Mr. Burch about three weeks, he 
asked us to go to Sacramento with his boat after a load 
of provisions, for which he agreed to pay us five dollars 
per day each. 



CHAPTER VI. 

ADVENTUEES BY FLOOD. 

V/e started down the river on the 22nd of December. 
Our crew consisted of Thomas D. Bonner, captain, Aus- 
tin W. Pinney and myself. We carried down two or 
three passengers. The river being very much swollen by 
the recent heavy rains, we went down the river as far as 
Fremont the first day. 

Fremont is a small town named for the "Pathfinder" 
and is situated on the west bank of the Sacramento River 
at its junction with Feather River. 

We remained at Fremont until the morning of the 
23rd, when we again started and reached Sacramento 
Cit^ before night. 

By the way of the crooked river it is about 150 miles 
from the Burch ranch to the **cloth city," as it was then 
called. Pinney was employed by Mr. Burch as clerk to 
purchase the goods, and consequently I had very little 
to do while at Sacramento. We remained at the city 
during Monday and Tuesday. Pinney in the meantime 
made his purchases, and on Wednesday we were pre- 
pared to start for Feather River with our cargo of stores 
and provisions, liquors, etc. 

Sacramento City at this time was built principally of 
cloth houses and tents. However, there were a few very 
fair framed buildings and numerous smaller shanties. 

122 



ADVENTURES BY FLOOD 123 

It was generally known as the "Rag City," which 
was an appropriate name, indeed. Almost all the better 
class of buildings in the city were occupied as gambling 
places, drinking saloons, or something equally as bad. 

Sacramento City is situated at the junction of the 
Sacramento and American Rivers, and near Sutter's old 
fort, on land originally granted to Captain Sutter by the 
Mexican government. The location of the city is low 
and subject to inundations at extreme high water. Large 
steam vessels ply between this city and San Francisco. 
The fare is from thirty to forty dollars. 

Sacramento City is at the head of ship navigation on 
the Sacramento, but small vessels can go above. 

In the spring of 1849 this place began to be boomed 
as a city and now it contains several thousand inhabi- 
tants, and is a smart business place. Everything here is 
life and bustle, where fortunes are made in a day and 
are lost as quickly. A large amount of sickness prevails 
at the present time. • 

Dr. Haines and C. S. Fifield, who left us on Raft 
River, are both in the city at the present time. Fifield 
has a paint shop and is doing a good business. Dr. 
Haines has a small hospital for the sick and seems to 
be doing a considerable business and says he is making 
money. 

Mr. Woodbury, who was a member of the Granite 
State Company from New Hampshire, is with Dr. 
Haines, and is very sick. He was taken with the 
diarrhoea soon after he entered the valley and has since 
continually been growing worse. 



124 THE GOLD SBEKEilS OF '49 

He knew me very readily when I entered his room, 
and taking me by the hand, said with tears in his eyes, 
that he should never again see his home or his friends. 
I tried in vain to cheer him, telling him that there still 
was hope for his recovery, but it was all of no avail. 
He said he should live but a few days, and his predic- 
tion proved too true. Poor fellow! A wife and family 
in New Hampshire waited in vain for his return home. 

While in Sacramento I also saw a Mr. A. Webster, 
with whom I became acquainted before I left Hudson. 
He was sick with the scurvy, and unable to perform any 
labor. He was selling cakes on the levee. I thought 
that his existence, too, would soon terminate, but I never 
after heard from him. Probably he sleeps, with the" 
many thousands of gold hunters, on the banks of the 
Sacramento — the sleep that knows no waking. 

Instances of a similar description are almost daily met 
with in California. Men who left their homes and 
friends in the East to take their chances in the mines, if 
possible, to gain a few paltry dollars in the Nev/ Eldo- 
rado, are stricken by disease, and death soon ends their 
earthly career. It seems truly hard to die in California 
among strangers, with no friends near to sympathize and 
in some small degree, alleviate the pains of their dying 
moments. 

On Wednesday, December 26, we left Sacramento City 
and started on our journey for Feather River. Our boat 
was loaded dov/n with provisions, liquors and other 
articles. Thomas D. Bonner was captain, A. W. Pinney 
and myself constituted the crew, and we had two pas- 
sengers aboard — a North Carolinian by tlie name of 



ADVENTURES BY FLOOD. 125 

Stedman, (who by the way agreed to work his passage 
up the river), and a physician from Nova Scotia. 

The North Carolina man seemed to be somewhat 
bigoted and wanted the best accommodations the boat 
afforded, and while we were making our way up the 
river he never offered to pull an oar or do anything to 
assist us in the least, but always kept the best seat aboard 
the boat dry from morning until night by sitting upon 
it steadily with an India rubber blanket over him when 
it rained, which was a considerable part of the time. 
This did not appeal to me as being the proper manner 
for him "to work his passage" up the river, as the stream 
was high with a rapid current. With a heavily loaded 
boat it was quite difficult for two men to make any 
progress with their oars against the strong current. As 
Captain Bonner failed to remind Mr. Stedman about his 
agreement to work his passage up the river, I thought I 
would take the risk to jog his memory in relation to it. 
The result was instantaneous and Mr. Stedman and I 
had a falling out immediately. He was quite excited and 
seemed to be on the point of exploson. I certainly antici- 
pated an immediate challenge from Mr. Stedman to 
meet him in deadly combat and settle the matter Southern 
fashion. But for some unknown cause he suffered me 
to continue to live. Had a challenge been forthcoming 
I cannot now say what the outcome would have been. 

The Sacramento was very high, almost at full banks, 
and having had a head wind, we made very slow progress. 
At some points along the river the banks were overflown 
and the valley for miles in extent back from the river 
was one wide sheet of water, extending as far as the eye 



126 THE GOLD SEEKERS OF '49 

could reach. The valley of the Sacramento is nearly 
level and extends from the river to the Sierra Nevada 
mountains on the east, and to the coast range on the 
west, and at some points it is fifty or sixty miles wide. 

Pinney and myself pulled the boat up the river against 
the wind and current, Captain Bonner sitting in the stern 
and steering her, while Mr. Stedman and the doctor 
made themselves as comfortable as was possible under 
the circumstances. 

We had three barrels of liquors, brandy and whiskey, 
aboard and soon after we began to ascend the river, 
Captain Bonner, president of the New Hampshire Tem- 
perance society, and late a noted temperance lecturer, not- 
withstanding, tapped one of the whiskey barrels and 
commenced drinking the contents. This movement on 
his part somewhat surprised me, although I had began to 
learn not to be easily surprised at the acts of men in 
California. But I had heard Captain Bonner say much 
in favor of temperance and I supposed he would be 
among the last to taste of whiskey. 

At first he drank a little, and after a short time he 
took a little more, and he continued to take a little quite 
often and said he could not live in California without it. 
He said that he had once been a hard drinker, and I was 
afraid that he was in great danger of falling into his 
former evil practices. 

He argued that it was impossible for him to live with- 
out it in California. It had once saved his life, but that 
if he should return to his home in the East, he would 
again be as strong an advocate of temperance as for- 
merly. How this proved I cannot say, but while I knew 



ADVENTURES BY FLOOD 127 

him in California after I was with him on this trip, he 
appeared to be one of the most confirmed hard drinking 
men that came within the circle of my acquaintance. 

To pull the heavily loaded boat against the current we 
found to be very hard work and the progress was quite 
slow. We had made our way up the Sacramento a con- 
siderable distance, when one day, owing to the head wind 
being so very strong, we could make little or no head- 
way ; we were compelled to tie up and remain nearly the 
v;liole day. 

This was at a point where several choppers were at 
work cutting wood for the Sacramento market. They 
were paid eight dollars per cord for cutting it and were 
not required to split it. This I thought would be a good 
job, and that if Mr. Pinney would hire another man in 
my place to help pull the boat up the river, I would stay 
and cut wood for a while. I promised Mr. Burch my 
wages for the time I had been on the trip, thinking he 
could find no fault with that arrangement. Mr. Pinney 
thought I was under obligation to him to help dig the 
ditch for Mr. Burch and said that if I stopped here he 
should do the same. 

I knew that such an arrangement would not be fair 
treatment to Mr. Burch. Mr. Pinney had a settlement 
to -make with him in regard to the purchases made and 
the funds remaining in his hands. He also had con- 
tracted to excavate about 120 rods of ditch. I had con- 
sented to dig a part of it and would not refuse to do it 
without his full consent. Still I thought he might release 
me. Under the circumstances I continued to go up the 
river with the boat. 



128 THE GOLD SEEKEES OF ^49 

On the 5th day of January, 1850, we reached a point 
on the river about twelve miles below Burch's ranch, 
where we were met by Mr. Burch, who concluded to go 
with us up the river in the boat. Our passengers left us 
here and started on foot toward the mines. 

After meeting Mr. Burch we proceeded toward our 
destination and on the night of January 7tli reached a 
point not more than one and one-half miles below 
Burch's. Two or three days previous we had fallen in 
with another boat and party bound up the river, laden 
with provisions, owned and manned by some men from 
the Pine Tree state. They were two brothers by the 
name of Frye, Jack Percy, and a man working for thern. 

On the night of the 7th we all camped on the bank of 
the river almost within sight of home — "Our California 
Home" — but on the opposite side of the river. The night 
was dark and stormy and the rain descended in torrents, 
with the wind blowing almost a gale from the south. 
After several fruitless attempts we succeeded in starting 
a fire, by which we cooked some pork and flapjacks. 

On the morning of January 8th it still rained as hard 
as on the night previous. We started on our journey as 
early as it became sufficiently light to see how to arrange 
our camp fixtures properly. We did not even remain to 
prepare any breakfast, but started with the expectation 
of reaching Burch's ranch before noon. W^e were not 
long in reaching the foot of the rapids in company with 
the Maine boat. 

We had aboard a long rope and we concluded it would 
be the better plan for all hands to pull one boat up by 
the willow brush that grew along the water's edge a 




From an Old Drawinj 
SACRAMENTO CITY IN 1850. 



ADVENTURES BY FLOOD 129 

rope's length, and then draw the other boat up by means 
of the rope. 

The river being high and there being a strong head 
wind blowing for us to contend with, together with the 
fall in the stream at this place, we found it to be a slow 
and very tedious process to pull a heavily loaded boat 
up the river by the willows that skirted the shore. We 
would first pull up one boat a rope's length, and then 
draw the other boat after it, and thus we labored inces- 
santly until at length we succeeded in getting both boats 
near the head of the rapids, when by some unfortunate 
mishap, the boat got into the stream beyond the reach 
of the willows, and before we could recover we were 
again at the foot of the rapids and the other boat was 
also with us. To pull her up again was the hard labor 
of two or three hours, but it seemed to be the only prac- 
tical plan that we could pursue. 

Consequently, we all worked with a will and at length 
succeeded in pulling her up the second time, arriving at 
a point a little higher up the stream than we reached at 
the first time. We were pulling the other boat up after 
us by the rope and holding our boat to the brush, when 
suddenly the brush gave way and very soon both boats 
were again at the. foot of the rapids. 

These repeated accidents and disappointments, consid- 
ering all the existing circumstances and conditions, were 
anything but comforting to our empty stomachs and wet 
backs. It was now getting toward the end of the day 
and we had tasted no food since the night previous. 

The rain had descended in torrents all day and we were 
cold and wet, but to pull the boat again to the head of 



130 THE GOLD SEEKERS OF '49 

the rapids before dark seemed to be our only alternative. 
Could we succeed in getting our boat safely over the 
rapids by daylight, we could soon reach our destination, 
and we were anticipating a warm supper and dry 
lodgings in Burch's tent. 

Consequently, we once more, for the third time, worked 
our way by the brush to the head of the long rapids, and 
just as it was becoming dark we had succeeded in bring- 
ing both boats to the head of the rapids for the third 
time. Just at that point of the river there was a short 
bend in the stream so that we would get the benefit of 
a fair wind from that point up. Pinney was in the bow 
of the boat holding to the brush, Captain Bonner and 
Burch were near the stern arranging to get under weigh, 
and I was hoisting the sail. 

Mr. Burch said: "Be sure to hold fast this time, 
Pinney." But for the moment the latter seemed absent- 
minded and before I had the sail raised he released his 
hold upon the brush and seized the foot of the mast to 
enter it into its place. Instantly we were again beyond 
the reach of the brush, and very quickly were again at 
the foot of the rapids! Our companion boat continued 
up the river without trouble, so far as we knew. 

To work our way up again to the head of the rapids 
that night seemed to be an impossibility. It had become 
extremely dark. The rain continued to descend 
copiously, as it had done continuously for more than 
twenty-four hours. The river was so full of snags that 
to make the attempt to cross it in the dark was to hazard 
our lives. 

We were on the opposite side from Mr. Burch's ranch. 



ADVENTURES BY FLOOD 131 

and also on the opposite side from another ranch owned 
and occupied b|y a Frenchman, John Ruells. On the side 
where we were there were no habitations within twelve or 
fifteen miles. After a consultation we came to the con- 
clusion that the best we could do, under the existing cir- 
cumstances, was to land and await until the next morning. 

Accordingly, we pulled our boat as far into the willows 
as it were possible, and I, being at the bow, chained the 
boat to a small tree. I thought it was probable that con- 
sidering the large quantity of rain that had fallen the 
stream would continue to rise some during the night, and 
to guard against accidents I chained the boat about three 
feet above the water and gave it about twelve feet of 
spare chain. 

The small willows were extremely dense, and in mak- 
ing an attempt to reach the shore, I found the water at 
the bow of the boat was five feet deep. As we had no 
dry matches and there was no possibility of procuring 
any fire, we concluded our condition would probably be 
nearly or quite as comfortable aboard the boat during 
the night, as it would be if we could succeed in reaching 
the bank. Consequently, we concluded to remain on 
board, though we had nothing cooked that we could eat 
and we were cold and wet. 

The rain was still descending and I believe that in all 
my life I never laid down to a night's lodging with so 
small a prospect of the enjoyment of a moment's com- 
fortable rest and repose as on that night. The rain, 
although it was from the south, was cold, and each one of 
us shivered so badly that the boat fairly quivered from 
stem to stern ! 



132 THE GOLD SEEKERS OF '49 

I covered my head and after enduring the situation for 
some hours, fell into a broken, dreamy slumber, from 
which I was suddenly awakened with the cold water 
rushing over me. I jumped to my feet immediately and 
simultaneously with the whole crew. But we had no 
sooner gained our feet than the boat went under, sending 
us all with our load of freight into the river! The boat 
immediately after came to the surface with its keel up- 
ward. 

The first thought that occurred to me was to imme- 
diately strike out and swim to the shore, but my second 
thought was to get upon the bottom of the boat and get, 
if possible, a survey of my situation. 

Consequently I pulled myself up upon the upturned 
boat. At about that time Mr. Burch cried out: "For 
God's sake pull me up or I shall drown." I took him by 
the hand and drew him up. He said he could not swim 
a single stroke. Captain Bonner, who had sometime been 
a sailor, attempted to swim. 

He wore his "sou-wester,'^ a canvas hat painted white. 
In the darkness I could just trace the white hat as it 
slowly moved along the surface of the water, but it soon 
disappeared from sight and then it reappeared. It al- 
most immediately disappeared the second time when I 
reached for one of the oars that was within sight to 
try and reach him, if possible. Again he came to the 
surface and climbed up a small tree that was standing 
in the water near the upturned boat. He climbed as far 
up the tree as he could, it being the top of a small willow. 
His feet were about four feet above the surface of the 



ADVENTURES BY FLOOD 133 

water. No sooner had he gained his position on the tree, 
than he said he came very near drowning. 

To all appearance our position since we chained the 
boat to a tree the night previous had been transformed. 
The rain had ceased to pour, clouds were beginning to 
become broken, and the darkness was not so dense. We 
could dimly discern on our side the waters of the river 
rushing swiftly past, gurgling and whirling, carrying 
along with them large masses of flood wood, intermixed 
with immense logs and whole trees, while on the other 
hand we could discover small trees and brush rising 
above the surface of the water, and still a little farther 
in the distance was a large growth of cottonwood trees. 
The latter were probably some twelve or fifteen rods 
distant to the east of our position. We could see no land. 

The question of what was the immediate cause of this 
severe accident soon began to be discussed among the 
party. Mr. Burch made the inquiry who it was that 
chained the boat. I answered that it was I who chained 
it. He thought that it was not fastened sufficiently 
secure and that it probably came unhooked, floated down 
the river and in some way became capsized. The same 
opinion at first seemed to be entertained by the majority 
of the party. However, I knew it had been faithfully 
secured and that it was almost an impossibility for it to 
have become loosened. 

It occurred to me that the boat was still chained to 
the willow tree as we had left it when we had laid down, 
and that the river had risen to such a height that the 
bow of the boat had been drawn beneath the surface and 
it naturally capsized. This seemed almost an impossi- 



134 THE GOLD SEEKERS OF '49 

bility, but it proved ultimately to be the true version of 
the cause of the accident. 

After I had considered the matter as to the safest and 
best course to pursue, I concluded to stay by the wreck 
as long as it seemed possible, and the entire crew seemed 
to be of the same mind. 

We soon began crying for help at the top of our 
voices, but at the same time we were without the slightest 
hope or expectation that anyone could render us any 
assistance on that night. 

First one would cry aloud for a few moments and then 
another would take it up for a time, and thus it would 
go around through the whole list. 

The day previous Captain Bonner had a two-quart jug. 
aboard which he had drawn nearly full of whiskey for 
his own private use, and when he discovered the "little 
brown jug" resting against the tree beneath his feet, he 
was very much pleased. He soon recovered it and after 
taking a drink from it, passed it around. It was about 
one-half full when recovered and it went around at inter- 
vals the remainder of the night. 

We were compelled to sit in the cold water nearly to 
our waists, from the time of the accident until daylight, 
and it was not anything like a comfortable position. As 
near as we were able to judge, the boat upset about one 
o'clock. 

Occasionally we heard a voice in reply to ours, but no 
one came to our assistance until it became daylight, when 
an Italian came in sight around the bend in the river in 
a small zinc boat and took us ashore. Captain Bonner 
had nearly perished. 



ADVENTUEES BY FLOOD 135 

Before we were rescued the water had reached to his 
waist, as he stood upon the tree, and he could ascend no 
higher. Mr. Burch and Captain Bonner both said that 
they never expected to see another day, and they would 
have it no other way from the moment of the accident 
until the rescue. 

Mr. Burch stated and several times repeated it, that 
he would willingly give all he possessed in the world 
to be set on shore. I made the reply that I would pay 
fifty dollars to any one to put me ashore safely, but that 
was the extent I would give. 

After getting ashore I found my limbs so benumbed 
that it was with great difficulty that I could walk a 
step. 

About ten o'clock we partook of a little breakfast that 
had been prepared for us, it being the first of anything 
we had eaten for upward of forty hours. On an in- 
vestigation a little later we found the river had risen 
about twenty-five feet during the night, occasioned from 
the heavy rains together with the melting of large bodies 
of snow in the Sierra Nevada mountains. 

After two days' rest we all felt nearly or quite as 
well as if nothing had befallen us, and strange as it may 
seem, not one of the party even caught the slightest cold 
from all the exposure. 

The night of the 8th of January, 1850, will probably 
be long remembered by all of this little party of four 
men. 

At that time the great freshet and overflow at Sacra- 
mento City was experienced, which destroyed an enor- 
mous amount of property and caused so great an amount 



136 THE GOLD SEEKEKS OF '49 

of sickness, suffering and death — when it was said the 
population of the city decreased about three-fourths in 
the space of six weeks, owing to deaths from cholera, 
fevers and others diseases, and from immigration to 
other places. 



CHAFER VII. 

LIFE IN THE MINES. 

After a lapse of 44 years — January, 1894 — I resumed 
this narrative. 

The foregoing was written not long after the events 
therein written had transpired, from notes taken from 
day to day. All those events were then fresh in my 
memory. 

Such notes as I took subsequent to the 9th of January, 
1850, while I remained in California, and later while I 
was in Oregon, were not so copious and full, and what 
I may hereafter write in relation to my experiences in 
those states (then territories) for the next four years and 
more will be drawn from these scanty notes, with the 
assistance of a very retentive memory. 

At the date of the sad experience with the boat on 
the Feather River, January 9, 1850, I was a young man 
of a little more than twenty-one years of age; while at 
this time I am more than sixty-five, yet my memory is 
still quite fresh in regard to many of those events that 
transpired in those times, while I doubt not that many 
others of equal interest may have been forgotten 
altogether; or I may retain only a partial or faint recol- 
lection of them at this time. 

In consequence of this, whatever I may write in the 
following pages will be such only as I distinctly remem- 
ber, and they will be a few of the leading incidents con- 

137 



.138 THE GOLD SEEKERS OF '49 

nected with my residence in California and Oregon until 
August, 1854, when I returned to New Hampshire. 

After a rest of two days from January 9, 1850, the 
time of the accident with the boat, we again resumed 
work with Mr. Burch, and soon after commenced the 
excavation of the ditch, which was for the purpose of a 
fence on three sides of a field of ten acres, Feather River 
to form the boundary on the remaining side. The land 
was sandy and free from stones, and the shoveling ex- 
cellent. We made a very good job, as by hard work 
we could each excavate four or five rods a day. The 
weather at this time was pleasant. The rainy season had 
not entirely passed, but February was a fine month and 
very agreeable. 

After the ditch was completed, as Mr. Burch had no 
more work for us, we traveled down the river to Yuba 
Cit;y, a small, new village on the west bank of the Feather 
River, opposite the mouth of the Yuba River. 

At that time Marysville, situated on the other side of 
Feather River and a short distance up the Yuba, was 
composed of very few buildings, with the exception 
of Nye's ranch, which was one of the old California 
adobe ranches. This was substantially at the head of 
steam navigation on Feather River, and there was quite 
a rivalry between the two **cities" — each trying to be- 
come tJic "city." 

Yuba City had the first beginning, but Marysville later 
outrivaled her and became the more important place. At 
this time two or three small steamers plied between Sac- 
ramento, Yuba City and Marysville. The largest of 
these was a flat-bottomed boat of considerable size, which, 



LIFE IN THE MINES 139 

if I remember correctly, was the Vezie. It was owned 
by a company from Maine, called the Vezie Company, 
and was built in Maine, taken around Cape Horn on a 
vessel, and set up in California. I believe Captain, 
Colonel or General Vezie was at the head of the com- 
pany. 

Green oak wood was used for fuel to operate the 
steamboat, and as there was quite a number of men 
present, members and stockholders of the company, a 
small board shanty was erected a short distance below 
Yuba City for the accommodation of the choppers who 
undertook to cut the fuel for the steamer from the oaks 
that grew near by. 

The majority of these men were young and were en- 
tirely unused to such hard manual labor as chopping, and 
the outcome was that eight or ten of them could not, or 
did not, cut a sufficient amount of wood to supply the 
boat with fuel. 

Shortly after our arrival at Yuba City, I met the agent 
of the steamboat company and made an agreement with 
him to cut lOO cords of wood at $6.50 per cord. 

The wood was to be cut three feet in length and split, 
but no deduction was to be made on account of its short 
length. I informed Pinney and Butler of the contract 
I had entered into, and of course they expected to take 
part in the job. 

Mr. Pinney was a native of Vermont, and cutting cord 
wood had been his principal work for many years. 

For several years previous to his immigration to Cali- 
fornia he had resided in Pelham, and had cut wood for 
about nine months in each year, being engaged at haying 



140 THE GOLD SEEKERS OF '49 

and other work for the farmers during the heated term 
of summer. He was noted in Pelham as being an expert 
chopper, one that could cut more wood in a given time 
than any other man known in or about Pelham. Mr. 
Butler and myself both knew how to use the axe, but 
had never cut very much cord wood. 

Mr. Pinney made the remark that in all probability 
he would cut as much wood as Mr. Butler and myself 
together. I made the reply, that if he should cut twice 
as much wood as I did, I would leave the job. 

A ferry spanned the river from this place to the 
Marysville side, and the fare for foot passengers was 
fifty cents each way. 

No axes were on sale in Yuba City, and Mr. Pinney 
was selected to go to Marysville and purchase three 
chopping axes. In due time he returned with the axes — 
three being the entire stock found in the market in 
Marysville. 

As I remember, the price paid was ten dollars each, 
without helves. One of them was about the ordinary size 
and weight for a chopping axe, while another was a 
large, heavy one, and the third light and small like a 
boy's axe. Mr. Pinney selected the one of medium size 
for himself, and said that Mr. Butler and I could make 
such arrangements as we should choose in regard to the 
other two. I gave Mr. Butler his choice and he took 
the heavy one. We made arrangements with a man by 
the name of Galushia, who had a tent, to supply us with 
board at the price of two dollars per day. He did the 
cooking over a fire outside the tent. 

We each made a helve and hung the axes and began 
chopping. The wood was the white oak species and was 



LIFE IN THE MINEg 141 

growing a short distance back from the river. The trees 
were principally large, very old and brash, not very tall 
but with numerous large branches spreading over a wide 
surface. The trees were scattering, with no underbrush, 
"oak openings." It was seldom that we cut the trunks 
of the trees into wood, but left them on the ground, 
making use of the branches only. In many instances we 
would climb the trees and cut off the branches and leave 
the trunk standing. 

The first of my work at chopping caused my hands 
to blister badly. It was late in the forenoon when I 
commenced, and when it became night I felt an anxiety 
to know about how much I had succeeded in cutting. I 
piled and measured it, when I found I had cut in the 
short day, one and one-quarter cords, or had earned over 
eight dollars. 

By the agreement made we were not required to pile 
the wood, but the company was to have it drawn out and 
piled on the bank of the river, where it could be 
measured. 

We were not a long time in completing the contract 
of cutting one hundred cords, and we made another con- 
tract to cut another hundred cords. Each of us had our 
wood kept separate and piled by itself. Some days, 
when I was fortunate in the selection of a good tree, I 
would cut as much as four cords ; while on some other 
days, when I had a bad tree, I would not cut more than 
two cords. The first week or ten days of chopping 
caused my hands to become very sore, so much so that 
the helve of the axe would be covered with blood when 
they came in contact with it. 



142 the gold seekers of '49 

March i, 1850. 

After having worked at chopping about one month 
and having had our wood drawn out and measured, it 
was found I had cut almost two-thirds as much as had 
Mr. Pinney, and Mr. Butler had cut about one-half as 
much. 

As spring was approaching and as gold mining was 
our chief object and uppermost in our minds as a means 
by which to make a fortune in California, we thought 
the time was near at hand when we should select a min- 
ing claim for the coming summer. 

At that time it was almost the universal opinion among 
the miners of California that the beds of the rivers and 
large streams must be very rich with gold dust. That 
to turn the water from its natural channel so as to be 
able to work out the gravel from the bed of the stream, 
a quick fortune was almost sure to result. 

The mines had been worked for a comparatively short 
time, and this plan had not been tested in only a few 
instances. The theory was that as gold was found 
in greater or lesser quantities along the shores of nearly 
all the streams, in almost every bar, and in paying quan- 
tities in a great number of them, if the river bed could 
be worked there v/ould be necessarily large deposits of 
the yellow metal, as owing to its great specific gravity it 
would naturally seek the lowest levels and there remain. 

The rivers in the mountains were a succession of falls 
and rapids, and at many such places it was practical to 
construct temporary dams, so as to turn the streams 
from their channels for a greater or lesser distance. 



LIFE IN THE MINES 143 

Almost the entire mining population of Feather River 
in the spring of 1850 was engaged in enterprises of this 
nature. Many had selected their mining claims in the 
autumn previous or in the early winter, and had worked 
upon them during the winter in making preparations to 
carry their project into execution as early in the spring 
as the water should become low enough to permit of its 
being successfully carried out. The Pelham company 
owned a claim on the south fork of Feather River, where 
they had built and were occupying a comfortable log- 
house, and had expended much time and labor in making 
the necessary preparations. 

They bought a pitsaw with which they sawed sufficient 
plank for the construction of a long flume to carry the 
water a considerable distance. In appearance it was one 
of the most promising gold claims in the mountains. It 
was almost certain that for each one of the company 
there was a fortune awaiting in the bed of the stream. 

Numerous similar companies were constructing im- 
provements of greater or lesser magnitude. Everybody 
seemed sanguine of success. 

We were doing fairly well at cutting wood and could 
continue to cut for the Vezie Company at six dollars per 
short cord. We could earn on the average, including 
some rainy weather, twelve or fifteen dollars a day. 

But we naturally reasoned something different. If our 
friends in the mines should strike it rich and succeed in 
making a moderate fortune in a few months and we 
should spend our time cutting wood when we had the 
opportunity of securing a claim at some place along the 



144 THE GOLD SEEKEES OF '49 

river, perhaps equally as rich as others, we should regret 
that we did not attend to it at the opportune time. 

After discussing the matter in many different aspects, 
it was decided by us that Mr. Pinney would remain and 
cut wood, while Mr. Butler and myself would go up the 
river into the mountains and endeavor to secure a claim. 

Consequently, we left Yuba City and went up the 
Feather River into the mining country. After prospect- 
ing for several days, we succeeded in securing a claim on 
the middle fork of Feather River, nearly thirty miles 
above BidwelFs. 

At this time large quantities of snow still remained 
in the mountains above Bidwell's Bar. We made suffi- 
cient arrangements to comply with the mining rules and 
regulations to hold the claim, and formed a company. 

The names of all of this company I do not at this time 
recall, but at least there were two additional men that 
made the journey with us from Boston to California — 
Alden J. Nutting, of Westford, Mass., and Cyrus 
Whittemore, of Antrim, N. H. 

The most promising claims had been selected and we 
made the best arrangements that seemed practical at 
that time. 

The winter of 1849-50 was noted for the great amount 
of rain that fell in the valleys and the enormous depth 
of snow that accumulated in the mountains. It was not 
expected that the streams would become sufficiently low 
so as to admit of working our claim before June. 

After making the arrangements to hold the claim we 
returned to Bidwell's and did some mining there and at 
a place on the middle fork of Feather River, about 15 




From an Old Print. 



POSTOFFICE IN '49. 



LIFE IN THE MINES 145 

miles from Bidwell's. The water being high our success 
was poor. 

While at Yuba City I became acquainted with a man 
by the name of Damon. Capt. Robert D. Bonner went 
into trade then in company with another man and de- 
sired to hire some money at lo per cent interest per 
month. 

I loaned him a considerable sum, but unforunately I 
never received from him any interest nor any part of 
the principal. I soon afterwards lost sight of him and 
never knew his fate. As he had become very dissipated 
probably he did not survive long. 

Hay had sold at very high prices the winter previous, 
in some of the cities as high as $500 per ton. 

Mr. Damon of Yuba City made the proposition that 
we go up Feather River to a suitable place and there cut 
and stack a lot of hay and sell it later. He said he 
could not mow himself, but that he would hire a man 
to mow with me, and as he owned a horse, he would 
draw the hay together and pile it up, and we would 
sell it before the rainy season should set in. 

I acquiesced in the proposition and we went up the 
river a few miles to a place where we found the grass 
was quite good. We bargained for the right to cut as 
much as we might desire for a nominal sum from a 
man that owned a ranch nearby. He was a squatter and 
probably had no more right to the grass than we had. 
Mr. Damon owned one scythe and we succeeded in 
finding another — an old one — which we purchased for 
about fifty dollars. Mr. Damon hired Alden J. Nutting, 
before mentioned. Mr. Nutting was a short, thick set. 



146 THE GOLD SEEKERS OF ^49 

robust, muscular man, and seemed to be in the enjoy- 
ment of good health. 

The grass grew on the river bottom and was the nat- 
ural product of the soil. It stood quite thick and was a 
fair crop, but had been trampled by cattle that had 
ranged over it and fed upon it at will, which caused it to 
be slow and difficult mowing. 

We commenced mowing on Monday morning and I 
continued mowing every day through the week until Sat- 
urday night. Mr. Nutting complained of being ex- 
hausted and quit work at Thursday noon, but resumed 
again on Friday morning. There was no dew there at 
the time and the hay remained in the swath as it fell 
from the scythe, where it cured perfectly. 

The next week we pitched it together into small piles 
where we loaded it upon a wagon and formed it into a 
square pile on the ground in a broad, open field. 

Rakes of any kind we did not use. We did some more 
mowing for Mr. Damon, as he would need some to feed 
to his horse. 

Our stack of hay was about 40 feet long by 30 feet 
wide and ten or eleven feet high, and was estimated to 
contain twenty tons. 

It is impossible at the present time, after the lapse of 
nearly forty-five years, to give from memory a connected 
account of all the transactions in which I was engaged 
during the spring, summer and fall of 1850. Con- 
sequently, I will write about events of which I find my 
original minutes, or others of which I still have a dis- 
tinct memory, without regard to the exact dates or order 
in which they transpired. It is possible that some events 



LIFE IN THE MINES 147 

which I may relate may have taken place at a time pre- 
vious to that of cutting the hay. 

Some time I believe during that spring as Mr. Pinney 
and myself were returning from the mines on our way 
tc Marysville, or Yuba City, we made a stop at Charles 
Burch's ranch, where we met a party of surveyors. 

The engineer, Robert Elder, a Scotchman who had 
been employed for twelve years as an assistant engineer 
on the Michigan and Illinois canal, said to us that he was 
short of help and would like to employ us for a short 
time if our price was satisfactory. 

Having no particular work in view, we set our price at 
eight dollars per day with board. Mr. Elder thought 
that was more than he could afford to pay for help that 
had had no experience at such work, but said we could 
go to work on trial for two or three days. 

He was laying out a new city a short distance farther 
up the river, it being a mile square, or nearly so. He 
had then worked upon it for a few days. The survey 
was being done for a company in Sacramento City, who 
later erected one or two large buildings, and made con- 
siderable effort to get a city started, but at length it 
proved to be a "paper city," as has been the fate of 
numerous other like schemes in the West. We com- 
menced work and after a few days were constantly ex- 
pecting a notice of acquittal from Mr. Elder, or other- 
wise a reduction of wages. Nothing, however, was said 
by either party in regard to it for nearly two weeks, 
when I inquired of him how much longer he supposed 
our services would be needed. His reply was : "I would 
like to have you stay a good while." 



148 THE GOLD SEEKERS OF '49 

Mr. Elder was a very kind man, yet he was somewhat 
eccentric, and his likes and dislikes very decided. Up 
to that time I had no reason to believe that he had any 
preference for me over Mr. Pinney. 

We worked a few days after the time of the incident 
narrated, when one day he said to me that he would 
suspend work and go to Marysville for a few days and 
he desired us to go with him. We had boarded with an 
Englishman whom Mr. Elder had employed for that pur- 
pose, but he had lived at the ranch or house of a French- 
man by the name of John Roulo, located more than a 
mile down the river. Mr. Roulo had an Indian wife. 

The Englishman was not a bad cook, but the principal 
diet for breakfast, dinner and supper the week through 
was stewed beef. This beef was of good quality and was 
very well cooked, but it did not agree with me for a 
constant diet, with scarcely any other kind of food. 

About this time we went to Marysville, and Mr. Elder 
took a trip to Sacramento City to consult with some of 
the officers of the company for whom we were at work, 
or they came to Marysville, I am not certain which. 

Mr. Elder desired me to remain and return with him. 
I made the proposition that I would do so upon the con- 
dition that I should board at the Frenchman's, where he 
did. I confessed I could not stand the Englishman's 
stewed beef any longer. He said I could just as well 
board at that place and might have done so if I had 
spoken about it to him. We returned and I worked until 
the job was finished. Mr. Pinney did not return with us. 

There was in our party a Scotchman by the name of 
Campbell, one of the Sidney convicts. He was quite 



LIFE IN THE MIXES 149 

agreeable when he was sober, but sometimes he would 
get partially intoxicated, and then he was a bad man to 
get along with. He appeared to be a man of good educa- 
tion and understood surveying. Mr. Elder was obliged 
to be absent a part of the time, and in his absence he 
made Mr. Campbell his foreman. 

Sometimes when he had indulged too freely of 
whiskey, he would neither work himself nor permit any 
one else. This did not suit me, as I intended to labor 
just as faithfully in the absence of Mr. Elder as I would 
if he were present. 

One day when Mr. Campbell became quite drunk and 
foolish, and had allowed but very little work to be done 
by the party until afternoon, my patience had become 
exhausted. I undertook to drink from the waterpail 
that was standing nearby under a large tree, when he 
gave the pail a sharp tilt, which spilled some of the con- 
tents upon me. I started the second time to drink from 
the pail and he repeated the same foolish trick. After 
he had done this for several times, I dashed all the re- 
maining water in the pail squarely into his face. He at 
once became almost frantic with rage, and seizing an axe 
threatened to cut me in pieces. I kept myself a short 
distance beyond his reach, and laughed at his threats. 

I knew it was an easy matter for me to keep beyond 
his reach, but I didn't know how long his anger would 
continue to rage, or whether he would revenge himself 
at some convenient time in the future when I might not 
be expecting it. After a short time he ordered me to go 
to the river near by and refill the pail with water, but 
he still held the axe in one hand and the pail in the other. 



150 THE GOLD SEEKERS OF '49 

I invited him to put aside the axe and give me the pail, 
which he finally did, and I immediately complied with 
his request. 

After Mr. Elder returned I spoke to him in relation 
to Mr. Campbell's actions, and he discharged him. The 
next winter I heard that he was lynched at some place 
in one of the mountain valleys for horse stealing. 

One incident I always remembered which took place 
while we were employed on this job. When we were 
boarding at the French ranch, we carried a lunch for 
our dinners, which we would eat while seated under a 
large oak tree. One day we sat down in the shade of 
a large branching tree and ate our dinner and rested 
ourselves perhaps nearly an hour. Upon starting for 
our work we had gone but a short distance from the 
tree, where but a moment previous we had been quietly 
seated, when we heard a loud crash, and upon turning 
around we saw that a very large limb had broken from 
the tree and had fallen exactly upon the spot where we 
had been seated but a moment previous. 

This branch at the point of breakage was more than 
a foot in diameter, and probably contained nearly a cord 
of wood. There was not a breath of wind stirring and 
the branch had broken from its own weight, being just 
fully leaved out. It seemed to me to be a very narrow 
escape from a serious accident. I afterwards learned 
from my own observation that it was very often that 
limbs broke from such trees when loaded with leaves and 
there was no wind stirring. 

Mr. Elder seemed to manifest a deep interest in my 
welfare, and while he was drafting the plan of the survey 



LIFE IN THE MINES 151 

we had made, desired me to learn to use the portractor, 
scale and dividers. 

At that time I had no intention of taking up the 
business of surveying, although from what little experi- 
ence I had had with it, I thought I would like the work 
very much. I practiced with the instruments as I had 
the time to spare from my other work, and learned 
something about portracting and the use of the scale and 
dividers. 

Later in the same season I assisted Mr. Elder in lay- 
ing out another "paper city," but it was not of so large 
extent as was the former one. 

Not only was the winter of 1849-50 an excessive one 
in cold and storms, but the year 1850 was the most try- 
ing in the history of the gold-seekers. The struggles for 
the possession of titles to the claims staked out by the 
prospecting miners reached a critical stage; the cholera 
raged in every section of the Pacific slope — aye, spread 
from ocean to ocean — and in addition to these and the 
trials and uncertainties of life in the mines, where 
hundreds were losing to one making, the Indians started 
upon the warpath. 

Early in the summer, while I was at work at BidwelFs 
on Feather River, I witnessed the interesting and some- 
what startling spectacle of a band of her men decked 
out in all of the horrible panoply of savage warfare. 
All were elaborately painted in striking colors and armed 
in Indian fashion, bows and quivers, decorated in bright 
figures and filled with sharp pointed arrows tipped with 
glass heads, knives and other implements of a warlike 
nature. 



152 THE GOLD SEEKERS OF '49 

These dusky forces were composed of the "Valley 
Indians," as the native inhabitants of the lowlands were 
called, among whom was a branch known as the "Digger 
Indians," and the mountain tribes that had their homes 
in the Sierra Nevadas and adjacent highlands. The last 
named tribes were at enmity with the first — a predatory 
warfare that existed for a long period — a war as it 
seemed to the bitter end. 

An Indian village was situated twenty or twenty-five 
miles from Bidwell's easterly in the Sierras, which I had 
frequently passed through when I was prospecting in the 
Feather River gold mines. 

One day about noon there suddenly appeared in this 
little mining settlement a file of naked Indian warriors; 
forty or fifty in number, nearly all young men in the 
vigor of manhood, all apparently sound, well developed, 
beautifully proportioned, athletic men, the leader the 
most conspicuous figure. They came into view traveling 
at a slow dog trot, single file, each at a uniform distance 
from his file leader. No word was uttered, and no one 
of them preceptibly turned his head to the right or to 
the left. 

As the foremost reached the river, which at that place 
was deep and of considerable breadth, he stepped boldly 
and deliberately into the current without the slightest 
hesitation, and swam quickly to the opposite shore, where 
he again resumed the Indian trot of a few minutes 
before. Even the river did not break the line or check 
the speed materially, but the line was maintained and 
the speed was continued on and up the steep mountain 
incline as on the level, without break or hesitation, far, 



LIFE IN THE MINES 153 

far up the rugged mountain trail as we could see, their 
military order and discipline unbroken. 

They were from a valley tribe and had suddely come 
into view, passed through the village, swam the river, 
climbed the mountain side, and passed beyond our view 
in silence, bent on their errand of bloody carnage and 
death. Determination, vengeance and savage destruc- 
tion was pictured on every brow. 

Something of vital moment to the aboriginal popula- 
tion not far distant was about to transpire. And it was 
not long delayed. It was learned a little later that the 
Indian village in the mountains before mentioned, was 
suddenly and sadly surprised on the night of the day 
that the war party passed through Bidwell's, and for 
the small Indian settlement it proved a great slaughter 
or massacre of the men, while a large number of the 
women and children were taken prisoners and conducted 
to new homes. 

Some time in the spring, James M. Butler being some- 
what out of health, went to the Pelham camp to do the 
cooking for the company, where he remained until late 
in the fall, when he returned to his home in Pelham. 

I did some mining at Bidwell's and one or two other 
places while we were waiting for the water to subside. 
We visited our claim on the middle fork of Feather 
River several times, and made preparations to work it 
as soon as the state of the water would admit of doing 
it. We were obliged to convey all the provisions needed 
there on our backs over the mountains from Bidwell's 
Bar, a distance of 25 or 30 miles. 



154 THE GOLD SEEKERS OF ^49 

It was some time in July when the water became suf- 
ficiently low so as to admit of working the claim to 
advantage. At that time the companies that had taken 
claims in the most favorable locations had succeeded in 
getting a part of the water turned aside from the chan- 
nel, so that they had begun to work some of the beds 
of the streams. A few of those who had succeeded in 
working any part of the river bed had found the claims 
rich, but a very large majority of such mines were only 
paying very moderately, and many were almost entirely 
worthless. Some companies that had been at work all 
winter making preparations to turn a stream from its 
bed, when at last they had succeeded at the cost of so 
much labor and expense, found the bed of the stream s'o 
poor that it would not pay the expense of working. This 
state of affairs was not encouraging for us. As yet we 
had expended but little labor on our claim, but in loss of 
time in making arrangements, going back and forth con- 
veying provisions and tools, with the loss of time in 
waiting for the water to subside, all together made it a 
matter of considerable magnitude, reaching probably two 
or three thousand dollars. However, it was not our 
purpose to abandon our claim without a fair trial. 

Instead of arranging to turn the whole stream at once, 
as we had originally intended, we concluded to construct 
a wing dam, so as to be able to test the paying qualities 
of the bed. If it should prove of such richness as to 
warrant it, we could then build the dam as we had 
planned and turn the whole stream. If it should prove 
of poor paying quality we would abandon it. 

Consequently, we constructed a wing dam so as to 



LIFE IN THE MINES 155 

be able to turn the water from a small part of the river 
bed so as to permit of working so far as to be able to 
test the quality. 

After completing this work, and washing the material 
from the river bed, we found but very little gold, not 
sufficient to pay for working. 

I would probably have had nearly or quite a thousand 
dollars more than I did have at that time if I had kept 
at work and taken no part whatever in or about any 
river claim. 

The Pelham company worked their claim and it paid 
for working after the stream was turned, but the re- 
turns as a whole were small, and the company was dis- 
solved in the fall. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE ILLUSION OF ''"gOLD LAKE/' 

Many of the miners lost a whole season's labor, and 
had no more than they had the fall previous. In the 
early part of the season there was quite an excitement 
at Marysville, and at the mines on Feather River, known 
as the "Gold Lake" excitement. 

This was caused by a man who told in some respects 
a very plausible story or yarn. He said he had been a 
long distance east into the Sierra Nevada mountains, 
where he had made the discovery of a lake where gold 
was so plentiful that it could be gathered in almost un- 
limited quantities. 

He also said he was there at the lake for only a few 
days and that he had gathered more than he could carry, 
and had secreted it. 

Many believed his story to be all true, and the result 
was that quite a large company was gathered and went 
away back into the mountains and camped. Gold Lake 
was searched for but could not be found. It was said 
that after getting back into the mountains the Gold Lake 
leader appeared to be insane. 

The result of the expedition was the discovery of 
Nelson's Creek mines on a stream emptying into the 
middle fork of Feather River, some 90 miles or more in 
the mountains. 

156 



THi: ILLUSION OF ''GOLD LAKE '' 157 

Hearing of this discovery, which was said to be very 
rich, I concluded to go and take my chances. This was 
before we had built our dam on the old claim. Alden J. 
Nutting went with me, as I remember. We traveled up 
there on foot, and in those days in California every one 
carried his blankets, if nothing more. When we arrived 
at Nelson's creek, we found a large number of people 
already there, provisions scarce and high, and although 
there were some very good mines, they did not appear 
to be very extensive or lasting. We made a prospecting 
tour farther east among the mountains for two or three 
days, but as we found no gold in paying quantities, we 
soon after returned to the valley. 

After we had abandoned our claim on the middle 
fork, I concluded to go to Nelson's Creek again. 
I started from Marysville and traveled up there 
the second time. This was in August, and yet at one 
place we traveled over a snow bank which we estimated 
was 25 feet deep. After arriving there in company with 
one or two others, I selected a claim on the middle fork 
of Feather River, a short distance below the mouth of 
Nelson's Creek, where the stream could be turned by 
a dam. We thought there was a possibility that the river 
bed might be rich, and we concluded to construct a small 
wing dam sufficient to test it. We put in the dam so as 
to throw the water from a small portion of the river's 
bed. The claim proved as worthless as our first one. 

I then traveled up Nelson's Creek two or three miles 
and hired myself to a company who had turned the 
creek from its course and was working out its bed. 



158 THE GOLD SEEKERS OF '49 

This was paying fairly well. If I remember correctly 
I was to have ten dollars per day and board. The next 
camp below ours on the creek was about 80 rods distant, 
where three men were at work. They were all from 
Vergennes, Vermont, and were neighbors before they 
left home. They had a paying claim and were doing 
well. As the stream between the two camps passed 
through a small canyon, the trail was a rough one. 

One Saturday night, about twelve o'clock, one of these 
men came running up to our camp very much excited 
and out of breath, saying his two partners had been 
killed. His version of the matter was that, as they all 
lay asleep, two or three men had killed his two com- 
panions with a hatchet while they slept, and that he was 
awakened by the noise of the blows, to discover a man 
with a hatchet raised over his head, just in the act of 
striking him the fatal blow. He had jumped to his feet 
and run for his life. He had heard someone running 
after him, but from the sound he thought his pursuer had 
fallen, and after that ceased to follow him. 

We immediately went to the stricken camp, but could 
do nothing that night. The next morning we went down 
and found the two men in the creek. We took them 
out and found their heads cut to pieces, and also found 
the hatchet in the creek that was used by the murderers. 
The men were said to have had a considerable quantity 
of gold, which they kept under their heads. The gold 
could not be found. 

We rolled the murdered men in their blankets as well 
as we could and buried them on the side of the mountain. 

It would perhaps be natural for some to suspect the 



THE ILLUSION OF ''GOLD LAKE " 159 

survivor of the three men as being the guilty murderer 
of the other two, and that seemed to be the case to some 
extent, especially by those who knew but little of the 
circumstances, while all those that were present when the 
murdered men were found and buried, were of the 
opinion that he was innocent of the crime. 

On the next Sunday, one week after the two dead men 
were found and buried, quite a company of men came 
into our camp, all being strangers. Soon after they be- 
gan to inquire in relation to the circumstances accom- 
panying the murders, and all such circumstances and 
conditions were minutely gone into so far as was known. 

After learning all that seemed to be possible to be 
known about the sad matter, they quietly departed. We 
did not know their mission at the time. Soon after we 
learned that they came from a small mining town, a few 
miles distant. They heard of the murders, and of the 
circumstances of the three men being camped together, 
two of whom were killed. 

They had talked the matter over and discussed the cir- 
cumstances attending them, so far as they could learn 
them correctly at such a distance, and at a public meeting. 
They had arrived at the conclusion that the survivor of 
the three men was undoubtedly the murderer. The men 
that came to our camp had been selected at the meeting 
for the purpose of investigating the case, and to try 
the supposed murderer before Judge Lynch, and if found 
guilty, execute him. 

When they came over Sunday morning they supposed 
it would all be completed and that they would return to 
their homes before night. 



160 THE GOLD SEEKERS OF '49 

But after an investigation had been made by them, 
they came to the conclusion that the companion who had 
made his escape was innocent. 

At the time I left home for California in April, 1849, I 
was not in the enjoyment of very good health. I was suf- 
fering somewhat from a cough, and it distressed me to 
inhale a long breath. I did not feel strong and robust. 
However, I had kept the matter a secret so far as was 
possible, thinking that if my friends knew the conditions 
they would oppose my going to California, and I was 
fully determined to go if possible and take the conse- 
quences, whatever they might be. 

This condition of my health continued in some degree 
for a considerable length of time. While at Inde- 
pendence, Missouri, where we remained about four 
weeks, my illness caused a pain in my side when I rode 
horseback. The same was true after we had started on 
our journey over the plains. It gradually wore away 
and long before we reached the Rocky Mountains, my 
health seemed to be perfect. 

It continued to be excellent during all the last part of 
the journey and through the winter of 1849-50. I was 
more fleshy and of heavier weight at that time than I 
had ever before been, or have been since. When cutting 
wood at Yuba City I weighed more than 160 pounds, 
but during the summer of 1850 I did not enjoy en- 
tirely uninterrupted good health. 

Our work on Nelson's Creek was very laborious. It 
lay in a mountain gulch, deep down, where it was quite 
warm as long as the sun shone upon us. I cannot at 
this time recall the exact length of time I worked there. 




From an Old Print. 
CUSTOM HOUSE ON THE PLAZA. 



THE ILLUSION OP '^GOLD LAKE'' 161 

but would say it was from two to three weeks. When- 
ever I labored in my life, I always intended to keep up 
my end, or to perform my share of the work. No fault 
was made known to me here. 

However, I was not feeling as well as I could desire, 
especially toward the close of my service there. Instead 
of feeling any improvement, I grew steadily worse. 

The last morning I went to my work I felt miserable, 
but thought I would be able to overcome it, so I said 
nothing. I worked until noon when I felt obliged to 
quit for the day. 

There was at that camp a man by the name of Jewett, 
from some place in Massachusetts, who the winter pre- 
vious had stopped a while at the Pelham camp. The 
tragic fate of the men so near our camp seemed to make 
Mr. Jewett extremely nervous and timid. He seemed 
to be almost afraid of his own shadow, and ever after 
the tragedy he was talking about going to the valley, and 
from there to his home in New England. One obstacle 
to his making an immediate start was that he lacked the 
courage to go alone. 

Two or three days after I had quit work he found 
some parties that were going to the valley, and as there 
was but two of them, he desired me to go with them to 
enlarge the party, and as he seemed to believe, make it 
safer. 

I replied that as I was sick, probably I could not travel 
as fast as his party would desire to go, but if I did not 
improve in health within a few days, I thought I should 
go to the valley. I had no fear to travel alone and would 
prefer to do so, as I could take my own time. He was 



162 THE GOLD SEEKERS OF ^49 

very urgent that I should go with him, and said as he 
had a pack horse, he would carry my blankets and would 
make the journey as comfortable as possible for me. I 
finally consented, almost against my better judgment. 
This was near the last of August or the first of Septem- 
ber. 

We started on the morning of the next day after the 
arrangements had been completed. His horse was at 
Onion Valley, about eight miles on our way. From Nel- 
son's Creek up the mountain, about one and one-half 
miles, it was very steep. That brought us to the top 
of the mountain. From there we traveled to Onion 
Valley. There we took a little refreshments and then 
packed the horse and started for Grass Valley, about^iS 
miles distant. 

Although the air on the mountain was cool, the morn- 
ing was pleasant. While in California I wore no coat. 
Shirts and pants were the clothing worn, and during the 
rainy season when it was cooler we wore extra flannel 
shirts. Blankets were much used instead of shirts when 
miners were not at work. At that time I was dressed 
with a '* Hickory" shirt and thin pants, all cotton. 

When we left Onion Valley my blankets were packed 
on the horse, as I didn't expect to need them on the road 
while walking. 

Soon after we left Onion Valley it commenced rain- 
ing, which soon after turned into a wet snow. This 
melted nearly as fast as it fell, and being thinly clad as 
I was, I was soon wet to the skin and very cold and 
uncomfortable. I thought that if I could only get my 
blankets out of the pack to put over my shoulders it 



THE ILLUSION OF ^'GOLD LAKE " 163 

would be much more comfortable, and perhaps better for 
the health of a sick man. 

I spoke to Mr. Jewett about it and he replied that he 
couldn't get at the blankets without unpacking the horse, 
and that he thought I could get along without them. I 
said no more about the matter. We at length arrived at 
Grass Valley, thoroughly drenched and almost exhausted. 

While Mr. Jewett and his party were pitching the tent 
for the night, I went into a cloth eating house and seated 
myself on a board before a small fire burning on the 
ground. After being seated there for some time I felt 
very faint. I could see nothing for several minutes and 
everything looked black. I said nothing but kept my 
seat, which was near the table. I soon recovered from 
the faintness and became partially warm. 

Supper was at length announced, but I did not desire 
to leave my seat, neither did I feel like eating anything. 
I turned and faced the table, ate a small piece of a 
cracker and drank a little tea, paid two dollars for supper, 
and again faced the fire. 

When it was nearly night I went over a short distance 
to Mr. Jewett's camp. He said I had the scurvy, but I 
didn't think so. He wanted me to get some potatoes and 
eat them raw, scraped in vinegar. He urged the matter 
so persistently that I bought a pound of small potatoes, 
for which I paid one dollar and a half, scraped some of 
them into vinegar and made an effort to take them as 
medicine. It was too much like an emetic for me. I 
threw away those I had prepared, gave the balance to 
Mr. Jewett, and told him that rather than eat raw 
potatoes I would take my chances with the scurvy. But, 



164 THE GOLD SEEKERS OF '49 

in fact, I did not believe I had the scurvy, and later I 
was thoroughly convinced that I did not have it. Mr. 
Jewett was very timid that night and very nervous. 

Each one of the small party had some kind of fire- 
arms. I had a double barrel shotgun, which was loaded 
with buckshot, but during the rain it had become wet 
through so that it was impossible to discharge it without 
giving it a thorough cleaning and drying. He desired 
me to put it in thorough order and reload it. I told him 
I would not do it, that I was about to lie down and make 
myself as comfortable as possible. 

He said we were all liable to be murdered before 
morning. I said to him that I felt no fear of it, and that 
I was willing to take the risk. The night passed quietly 
away, and the next morning I felt slightly rested, but 
no better otherwise. I had no appetite and was quite 
weak. 

After Mr. Jewett and his party had eaten their break- 
fast, they packed up and started for the next camp, which 
was twelve or thirteen miles distant. 

We soon fell in with another small party that was 
traveling the same way, and Jewett was very much 
pleased to have their company. 

I could not travel as fast as the party, and falling be- 
hind I traveled alone nearly the entire distance. When 
I arrived at the camp I was nearly exhausted. I did not 
at that time look for Jewett and his party. They were 
preparing or eating their dinners a short distance away. 
But I found my blankets where he unpacked his horse, 
and I lay down upon them under a tree and soon fell 
asleep. 



THE ILLUSION OF ""gOLD LAKE " 165 

Not long after, I was awakened by Mr. Jewett, who 
said he wanted my blankets to be packed. I told him he 
couldn't have them any more, as I was going no farther 
that day. He inquired the reason, and I said I could 
go no farther until I had some rest. He asked me if I 
was sick, and I asked him if he had just learned the fact. 
I had supposed he knew it before we started, when he 
promised to be so kind to me if I would go with him. 
He desired that I would permit him to take my gun with 
him, and promised to leave it at the Pelham camp. I was 
glad to have him do this as it would release me of that 
much load, and I was no more afraid to travel there in 
the mountains unarmed at that time than I now fear to 
travel the streets of Nashua in broad daylight. 

This was the last I saw of Mr. Jewett. I afterwards 
learned that he went to the Pelham camp, where he made 
a short stay. He soon after went to San Francisco and 
started for home, as I remember, by way of Mexico, but 
it was said he never reached his home. What his fate 
was I never knew. It seemed very certain that his cow- 
ardice was a much more prominent trait in his character 
than his hospitality. I remained over at the place during 
that afternoon and night, and the next day and night. 
I felt somewhat rested, but did not improve much in 
other respects. I didn't quite enjoy the place and thought 
I would try to make a little progress toward the valley. 

There were two or three stopping places on the road 
within eight or nine miles, one of which was Strawberry 
Valley. I believe the first one was about three miles 
distant. I settled my bill and started in the morning, 
traveling leisurely and reached the first station, where I 



166 THE GOLD SEEKEES OF '49 

rested a while. I then went to the next and also to the 
third. I had then made about nine miles in all. Here 
I rested again, and at first thought I would remain until 
the next day, the next stopping place being twelve miles 
distant. As I didn't just fancy this place, I concluded 
to start for the next station, and should I become ex- 
hausted before reaching it I could lie down with my<. 
blankets for the night by the side of the road in the 
dense woods. These mountains were very heavily tim- 
bered. 

I reached the place near night but I was very tired. 
This "ranch" consisted of a cloth house, which contained 
a "bar," table, a cooking stove, with some other furnish- 
ings. Near by was a large tent in which travelers could 
sleep upon the ground by paying two dollars for the 
privilege. 

I was glad to avail myself of even this meagre benefit, 
but I awoke during the night suffering excruiating pains 
in my body and limbs. I tried in vain to rise and stand 
upon my feet. I believe I never suffered more severe 
pains than during that night. The next forenoon I suc- 
ceeded, after long and laborious efforts, to get upon my 
feet and move about a little. 

I remained here four or five days and had mended 
somewhat, so I was contemplating resuming my journey, 
when I was surprised to see an old acquaintance enter the 
tent. His name was George Carlton and he was from 
Pelham, N. H., a man of somewhat rough manners but 
with a kind heart. He was as glad to see me as I was 
him. It seemed that Jewett had informed the party at 
Pelham camp of the fact that he had left me in the 



THE ILLUSION OF ''GOLD LAKE '' 167 

mountains sick. There was no Jewett about Mr. Carlton. 
The following morning, seeing that he was making 
preparations to leave, some one asked him where he was 
intending to go. He replied that he was going into the 
mountains to see if he could locate Webster. Some one 
of the company (one of the Pelham men, I will not men- 
tion his name) said he did not believe it to be wise for 
them to take into camp any more invalids. Mr. Carlton 
made the reply that they had learned that Webster was 
reported sick in the mountains, and that he was about 
to make an effort to find him, and that if he was dead 
he would bury him, but if found alive, he would bring 
him into camp. He started on foot and alone. At a 
station below the place where he found me, he observed 
a mule straying about the woods. It was a small animal, 
thin and of but little value. Mr. Carlton gave the pro- 
prietor the circumstances, and he said he did not appre- 
hend that any owner would appear for the mule, and that 
ho could take it if he desired to do so. He led the mule 
as he had no saddle, and the little brute was scarcely fit 
for a saddle animal. It was in the forenoon of his second 
day out that Mr. Carlton found me. I bought a saddle 
from the proprietor of the place, and we started for the 
Pelham camp. I rode the little mule. We reached camp 
the next evening. Dr. Batchelder prescribed some medi- 
cine for me, which I believe was the only time I em- 
ployed a physician during my stay in California. 

I remained with my Pelham friends five or six days, 
improving in health quite rapidly. 



CHAPTER IX. 

MIXING ON THE YUBA RIVER 

Some time after we had cut the hay I met Mr. Damon, 
my partner, when he said that he had concluded to go 
to his home in the East for a short stay, and he would 
return probably as early as the next winter or spring. He 
desired me to sell the hay before the rainy season should 
set in and retain his part of the proceeds until his return. 
I proposed to send his share of whatever I should receive 
for the hay to him in the East, but he said that it would 
be his wish that I would keep it until his return. 

One object I had in view when I left Nelson's Creek 
was to attend to selling the hay. While it would be some 
time before the rainy season would set it, there was 
danger from fire. Everything in the valley was as dry 
as tinder, and the hay was on the open plain where people 
were passing back and forth to the mines and cities. 

I concluded to make an effort to dispose of it. This 
was some time near the end of September. I traveled 
from the Pelham camp to the place where we cut and 
•stacked the hay and found it to be safe. 

I sold a small part of it to some one, and then went 
to Marysville. I there managed to dispose of the balance 
on condition that the purchaser should do the teaming, 
but that I should assist in the loading. The distance it 
was to be drawn was 12 or 15 miles. As it would require 
several days to do the teaming, and as there was no con- 

168 



MINING OX THE YUBA EIVER 169 

venieiit place near by where I could procure board, I con- 
cluded to board myself and sleep on the hay. So I filled 
a half barrel with water, procured a quantity of salt 
pork and other provisions, which I hired drawn to the 
haystack. 

I remained at that place and assisted the teamster in 
loading the hay, otherwise I had no company with the 
exception of coyotes, of which there were plenty. 

These little animals of the wolf species were very 
numerous at this time. They were not dangerous, but 
were mischievous. They were small in size but they 
could make a great amount of noise. About the time it 
was becoming dark every evening they would begin their 
howling. First, the voice of one would be heard in some 
direction, which would seem to be answered by another 
in another quarter, and then another and another would 
follow, until there would appear to be a perfect chorus 
of voices, howling and barking. 

I had heretofore learned to keep completely out of 
their way as much as was possible everything that I 
had that they would care to eat. However, they soon 
found my quarters, and I would hear them in the night 
all about near where I was lying. At first I took little 
notice of them. One night I was awakened by more 
noise and disturbance than was usual, when I arose to 
see what they were doing. 

The moon shone brightly and I could see them in large 
numbers around and very near me. I made an effort to 
drive them away but they would scamper for a short 
distance only, when they would stand and look at me. 

Upon making an investigation I found they had drawn 



170 THE GOLD SEEKERS OF ^49 

my pork away a considerable distance into the grass. It 
was in a sack and had been almost under my head. They 
had also taken almost everything else that they could 
find. I took the sack of pork and some of the other 
most tempting articles I had to the top of the stack of 
hay, and after making a hole in the pile and burying them 
about two feet deep, I made my bed directly over them. 
In this way I succeeded in preserving them from the 
coyotes. 

The next morning I discovered that they had carried 
away almost everything I had about the camp. They had 
dragged away to a considerable distance a brand new 
rope, about 30 feet in length. A new tin pint drinking 
dipper, a tin spoon, and other articles I found scattered 
about in various directions, and they had even invaded 
my water cask and taken the bung out. 

I don't now remember at what price I sold the hay, 
but believe it was between $40 and $50 a ton, so we 
made a very fair job in cutting it. 

Between the time of the disposal of the hay and the 
time of the setting in of the rainy season, I cannot at this 
time give any detailed account of my work. 

Some time during the season, and I believe it was dur- 
ing this time, I cut some more wood near Yuba City. At 
that time the steamboat company did not wish to buy 
any green wood, but they said if we should cut some and 
have it drawn out and piled on the bank of the river 
they would need it after it had become seasoned. Some 
one, Worcester Gage of Pelham, as I remember, cut with 
me. We cut quite a quantity and had it piled on the 
river bank below Yuba City, near an Indian village. 



MINING ON THE YUBA RIVER ITl 

About this time the cholera was raging among these 
Indians to a fearful extent, and many of them died of 
the disease. It was their custom to cremate their dead 
bodies, which they did by placing them on a pile of wood 
and burning it. The flesh was burned, but the bones 
would remain unconsumed, which they would gather up 
and deposit in a small hole in the ground, dug for that 
purpose. When these bodies were being consumed it 
created a very sickening odor. After the wood became 
seasoned it was very convenient for these Indians to use 
for their domestic purposes, and they carried away con- 
siderable quantities of it. 

I once tried to frighten them, telling them that I would 
shoot the first one that I should find in the act of remov- 
ing any of the wood. It seemed to me that there was 
not so much removed afterwards. Before the wood was 
sold Mr. Gage went home to Pelham and left his share 
of the wood with me to be disposed of and to forward 
to him his share of the proceeds. I afterwards sold it 
and sent him his share of the money. 

Some time during the fall, after I had sold the hay, 
I was traveling up the road going toward Bidwell's, when 
I heard a horse coming behind me, and on looking back 
I saw some one riding toward me horseback that I soon 
recognized as my friend Mr. Damon, though I had sup- 
posed he was in the states. He soon overtook me and 
said he had been no farther than San Francisco, where 
he had remained for some time, and had concluded to 
return and not go East at present. On his reaching 
Marysville he had learned that I had started for Feather 
River mines, and he came on after me. I was not ex- 



172 THE GOLD SEEKERS OF '49 

pecting him for several months and had made no plans 
to pay him his share for the hay, but presumed of course 
that he would like his money. I believe I was owing him 
something more than $400. 

I explained to him the situation, and said that probably 
I did not have enough with me to settle with him in full. 
He said he had anticipated that situation and that I could 
pay him as much as I could conveniently spare, or if I 
could not spare him any at that time it would be just as 
well. After we had calculated the amount due him from 
me, we went into one of the cloth hotels by the roadside 
near by and weighed out the amount in gold dust that 
was his due, and which exhausted almost the whole 
amount I had with me. He almost absolutely refused to 
take it all at that time, but I insisted and he did so. As 
he was then present I desired to have the matter fully 
settled. 

We then parted and he went toward Marysville, while 
I continued my journey toward Feather River mines. I 
have no remembrance of ever meeting Mr. Damon after- 
wards. He was a good man. 

One incident that transpired during the spring of 1850 
while I was in the mines of Feather River: Several of 
us were camped there at the time, one of whom was a 
man from some town in New Hampshire who crossed 
the plains in company with us, and whose name as I now 
remember it, was Watkins. He and I were taken at 
about the same time with a similar illness, and one was 
substantially as ill as the other. I didn't apprehend that 
either of us was dangerously ill. Mr. Watkins soon lost 
his courage and began to talk that the should never again 



MINING ON THE YUBA EIVEK 173 

meet his friends at home. I endeavored to encourage 
him to the best of my abihty, but it seemed to have no 
beneficial effect whatever. 

Soon after I began to improve, but he grew worse con- 
stantly and became more despondent. We had a tent to 
camp in, but as it was previous to the end of the rainy 
season, there was yet some damp, cold, stormy weather, 
and it was cold in the tent. 

That he might be made as comfortable as was possible, 
I constructed a stone fireplace at the end of the tent and 
built a stone chimney to a point a little higher than the 
ridge of the tent. This made it possible to keep a fire 
so as to warm the tent and keep it dry and comfortable, 
and it operated quite satisfactorily. Mr. Watkins seemed 
to be very well pleased with the arrangements, but did 
not improve. I nursed him to the best of my ability, 
but he steadily declined, and a few days later he died. 

We opened a grave in a convenient place, w^ound his 
blankets about him, and buried him, which was all we 
could do for him. Poor Watkins! He had gone to his 
home, but not to the home that seemed to be uppermost 
hi his mind. 

One day in the fall of 1850, when I was in Marysville, 
there was an auction at which horses were being sold. 
A very thin, rundown horse was offered and as nobody 
made a bid, I started it at a small amount, and as no one 
raised the bid, it was knocked down to me. After making 
a little inquiry I learned that a man keeping a ranch a 
few miles out, took horses to herd. I took the horse out 
there and engaged him to keep it until I should call for it. 

Some time in November, about the time the rainy sea- 



174 THE GOLD SEEKERS OF '49 

son set in, I one day met George Carlton at Marysville. 
He inquired what my plans for the winter were. I had 
made no definite plans for the future. He suggested that 
we go up on the Yuba, as I remember it was to Park's 
Bar, possibly it was Long's Bar, and work with him dur- 
ing the rainy season at mining. I consented to go with 
him. At this time I believe the Pelham company had 
broken up and scattered. A few of the number had gone 
home or did so soon after, and the others were at different 
places. The company had made some money, but their 
mining claim did not yield anything near the amount of 
gold that was expected of it. 

Previous to this time I had met James M. Butler in 
Marysville on his way to San Francisco and then to -go 
home. I sent by him to my brother Moses at Pelham 
i8^ ounces of gold dust, which at $i6 per ounce, the 
California price, was worth $300. This was to pay the 
money borrowed to pay the expenses to California in 
1849. Mr. Butler went home by the way of Mexico and 
had a hard journey. He arrived home in January. 

Mr. Carlton and I went up the Yuba River and made 
a camp. I made a small quicksilver machine for washing 
gold. It was of my own invention and I had made one 
of the same kind before. It was made watertight, and 
when working it the back end was set lower than the 
front end. The quicksilver was worked in the rear end, 
and that end being the lowest part of the machine, the 
quicksilver would remain there. When the gold touched 
the quicksilver it would amalgamate and be held there, 
while the gravel would be washed away and pass out at 



MINING ON THE YUBA RIVER 175 

the Other end of the machine. It operated very satis- 
factorily. 

The mines were not very rich at this place, but in good 
weather we could each make from $8 to $12 dollars a 
day, and some days considerably more. One advantage 
here over many other places was that the water did not 
give us so much trouble, as the bar was larger and 
higher than many others. The rainy season was not 
nearly so severe as was that of the year previous. We 
could also procure better provisions. All eatables were 
high, and that was to be expected, but they were of a 
very fair quality. We could procure plenty of either 
Irish or sweet potatoes, produced, I believe, at the Sand- 
wich Islands. 

Mr. Carlton cooked the meat and potatoes and I made 
and baked the bread and washed the dishes. We passed 
a very comfortable winter. 

At this place were two brothers by the name of Davis 
from Nashua, N. H. The given name of the elder one I 
believe was Josiah. If I remember correctly they both 
lived to return home, but both died not very long after. 
Josiah died first. The younger one was not more than 
seventeen or eighteen years of age at that time, but he 
was very active and smart. They kept a store in quite 
a large cloth building very near our camp. 

An elderly man from eastern Tennessee slept in the 
building. He was a blacksmith and was probably a man 
who never accumulated very much property during his 
life before he came to California. He owned a little 
forge with a kit of tools and did jobs for the miners, for 
which he received good pay, and he had accumulated 



176 THE GOLD SEEKERS OF '49 

already between $2,000 and $3,000, all of which was in 
gold dust and which he constantly kept secreted on the 
ground under his blankets where he laid. He was very 
jolly and happy and probably then had more money than 
he ever anticipated having. 

Within the same building lodged a man from Virginia, 
a miner, a tall, spare man, always good-natured, but 
somewhat taciturn or reserved, and appeared to be an 
honest man, one which almost any one would not hesitate 
to trust. The Davis brothers, and some others, also 
slept in the same building. 

I was very friendly with the Davis brothers, who by 
the way, were brothers of the late S. S. Davis of Nashua. 
I was in the building quite often when I was not at work. 

One day Mr. Blacksmith came running from the build- 
ing about breakfast time, almost insane with excitement. 
Upon making inquiry as to the cause of his grief he 
said some one had stolen all his purse of gold. At first 
it was thought he had probably mislaid it, and that it 
would be found where he had put it. 

An investigation was made at once, after which all 
present were satisfied that a theft had been committed 
by some one, but who the guilty party was no one could 
seem to determine. 

The first thing to be done was to make a thorough 
search of every person known to have been in the build- 
ing that morning. That was done, and as I had been 
into the place, I was searched with the others, but the 
search revealed nothing. 

There was a man there of rather eccentric character, 
who was also mining on the bar. He made quite 



*^, 



■^^ 



ii^'^ 




Mr 



: •■ v.^m^., 



V'.VV^it^lr . - - 



From an Old Print. 



VIGILANTES IN '.i9. 



MIXING ON THE YUBA RIVER 177 

numerous inquiries, during which it was brought out that 
the Virginia man went to the river quite early that morn- 
ing for a pail of water. After leaving the route he took, 
the eccentric man took the trail and followed it to near 
the river, where he discovered some traces or tracks lead- 
ing from the trail a short distance to a place where the 
sand had been disturbed, as appeared, with some one's 
hands. 

He didn't disturb it or even go to the place, but im- 
mediately returned and made report of his discovery. 
A party soon after went with him, and digging away the 
sand at the spot of the disturbance, the blacksmith's bag 
of gold was revealed. 

It was carried to the camp and Mr. Blacksmith was 
asked to identify his bag of gold, which he had lost. 
This was before he knew there was any prospect of ever 
recovering it. This he readily did, and when it was 
placed in his hands he was as happy a man as I ever 
saw. He was so overjoyed that he wanted to give one- 
half of it to those that found it. 

However, the incident so shocked him that he con- 
cluded to return immediately to his home in Tennessee, 
where he had a daughter. Soon after he left for home. 

The evidence against the Virginian seemed to be quite 
conclusive. He was the only person known to have 
pursued that trail to the river that morning, and the 
footprints in the sand agreed very perfectly with his 
boots. "Judge Lynch" was soon summoned to hold a 
court. The court was organized and the Virginian was 
arraigned. The evidence was very damaging, but was 
circumstantial and not entirely positive, every one 



1?8 THE GOLD SEEKERS OF ^49 

present and hearing the evidence seemed to beHeve him 
to be the guilty party. The verdict of the court was to 
the effect: That he was probably guilty of committing 
the robbery, but as there was room for a little doubt, 
he was entitled to that doubt. He was not sentenced 
to be executed at once, provided he would leave the bar 
immediately, otherwise, he must suffer the penalty. He 
immediately left and I never again saw or heard of him. 

We remained at that place until near the end of March, 
1 85 1. I believe I enjoyed our stay here better than any 
other time of the same length during my time in Cali- 
fornia. My health was fairly good ; we made average 
pay, and had good company. 

About this time we concluded to go to San Francisco, 
where neither of us had yet been. 

Mr. Carlton had been talking continually about going 
to farming in some of the coast valleys, which at that 
time seemed to be paying good returns. We started for 
Marysville. 

At that time the Yuba River was quite high, swollen 
by recent rains, and we were obliged to make the cross- 
ing at a ferry. At the place of the ferry the current was 
rapid and strong, and immediately below were falls or 
rapids, full of immense boulders. 

The ferry boat was a large one, made for the purpose 
of carrying teams, mules and horses, as well as foot 
passengers. It was held at its place and guided across 
the river by a large rope made fast over the river. At 
this high stage of water only foot passengers were 
ferried over. The rope was a large one, but I noticed 
that it was quite old and considerably worn. 



MINING ON THE YUBA EIVEB 179 

There were several fellow passengers with us in cross- 
ing. As soon as we were fairly in the stream I noticed 
there was a heavy strain on the rope, and it seemed to 
me it was liable to part at any second. I looked at the 
whirling, boiling stream below, that I might, if possible, 
make some consistent attempt to save myself in case the 
rope should part and we should go over the rapids. 

I could see no possibility of escape for any one aboard 
in that event. I uttered not a word until we had landed 
safely on the opposite shore, when I made the inquiry 
of the ferryman if he considered the rope used to be 
safe for the purpose at that stage of water. He said he 
believed it to be perfectly safe. I told him I could not 
be hired at any price to recross the stream again under 
like conditions, as I did not consider the rope safe. 

I afterwards learned that on the following day, while 
thirteen men were crossing in the same boat, the rope 
parted and every one of the men, including the ferry- 
man, were drowned. 

We went to Marysville, and I continued on to the 
ranch where I had left the horse the fall previous. Upon 
inquiring for my horse of the proprietor, he went out 
to the range and returned with a sleek, fat black horse 
that did not seem to resemble in any way the one I had 
left there, except in color. At first I could not believe 
it to be the same animal, but I accepted his word, and 
after settling for its keeping, I rode it away. It was a 
very handsome horse. As Mr. Carlton also owned a 
horse we rode down the valley on horse back to Sacra- 
mento City, where we left our horses and took a steamer 
for San Francisco. 



180 THE GOLD SEEKERS OF '49 

At that time there were as many as three quite large 
steamers constantly running between Sacramento and 
San Francisco. One company was running the "Sena- 
tor" and *'New World," both of which I believe formerly 
were run between Boston and Bangor, and had been 
taken around Cape Horn to San Francisco. The other 
was the Hartford, a slower and older boat. The fare 
I don't remember, but it was not so much on the Hart- 
ford as on either of the other two boats. We took 
passage on the Hartford. 

This was near the time that the excitement in regard 
to the Vigilance Committee was at its height. Several 
persons had been tried and executed in San Francisco, 
and considerable excitement existed there. The civil law 
had taken the place of lynch law, and had been in opera- 
tion several months. 

Murders, robberies and other crimes were of almost 
every-day occurrence. The courts had failed in most 
cases to make convictions, and the criminals, especially 
in such cases where they possessed a considerable amount 
of wealth, went free and unpunished. Life or property 
had become very unsafe almost anywhere. The Vigilance 
Committee soon caused a far different and a much better 
state of affairs. Many were the cases in which the 
evidence against the prisoner would seem conclusive, but 
the verdict would be "not guilty." The prisoner would 
be immediately seized, taken to the rooms of the com- 
mittee and there tried and convicted and executed, and 
all within the space of a short time after he had been 
cleared by the court. 



MINING ON THE YUBA KIVER 181 

Several such cases took place while we remained in 
San Francisco, which was several days. 

We went out to the old Mission Dolores, and to what 
has been later called Seal Rocks. We continued our 
journey down the valley and made some investigation 
in regard to lands for farming purposes. We learned 
that all those lands were claimed under old Spanish or 
Mexican grants, which at that time had not been settled 
or adjusted by the United States government, conse- 
quenty we abandoned the scheme of farming and re- 
turned to Marysville. 

We soon after parted and I have no remembrance of 
ever meeting Mr. Carlton after that time. He never 
returned to his home in New Hampshire, but died in 
California a few years later. 



CHAFPEE X. 

WITH COMPASS AND CHAIN IN OREGON 

I had occasionally met Mr. Elder, and about this time 
he informed me that a surveyor general had been ap- 
pointed for the territory of Oregon; that he was a man 
from Illinois, with whom he was well acquainted, and 
that he would probably be at San Francisco on his way 
to Oregon in a few weeks. 

It was his intention to meet the official in San Fran- 
cisco, expecting to make arrangements to go to Oregon 
and do some work on the government surveys. He also 
said to me that if he should do so, he would like to have 
me go with him. I did not decide at that time to go. 

About that time I met Mr. Pinney in Marysville. I 
believe he had been cutting wood at Yuba City for some 
time previous. During the late summer or autumn pre- 
vious he was employed with others at some place on or 
near Nelson's Creek, where they had struck a good claim 
and had taken out quite an amount of gold. I never 
learned the exact amount, but supposed it to be from 
$4,000 to $5,000 for his share. Some time while chop- 
ping he had boarded at Yuba City with a Rev, Mr. 
George H. Hanson. 

Mr. Hanson and a Mr. Bayliss, who kept a hotel at 
Yuba City, owned the ferry across Feather River at that 
place. Pinney informed me that Mr. Hanson desired to 

182 



WITH COMPASS AND CHAIN IN OEEGON 183 

let him the contract to excavate a road from the boat 
landing on either side of the river up through the banks 
so as to permit of teams passing to better advantage. If 
I would contract with him for doing the work, he 
thought we might do well. 

We looked the situation over and found the cut on the 
Yuba City side would be light, but that on the Marys- 
ville side was quite deep. I suggested to Mr. Pinney 
that the better plan would be that Mr. Hanson should set 
his stakes so that we could know just what would be 
expected from us to complete the work. Mr. Hanson 
proposed that the road should be at a true grade from 
the shore to a certain point, about 150 feet distant, and 
should be of sufficient width to permit the passage of 
two teams when meeting, the banks to be properly sloped. 

After considerable discussion relative to the depth of 
the cut, which I claimed would be twelve feet, he replied 
that he knew it could not be more than nine feet deep, 
and made the following expression in his western dialect : 
*'You needn't for to dig it more than nine feet anyhow." 

We made the contract to do the work with the under- 
standing that we would not be required to excavate over 
nine feet in the deepest place, but it was not written out. 
We bought some shovels and the next day we commenced 
the work. The material to be removed was all fine sand 
and was good shoveling. We began at the waters edge and 
threw it into the river and it was washed away by the 
current. We made the sand fly fast and we made a large 
showing on the first day. 

After we had worked awav from the river so that we 



18 J: THE GOLD SEEKERS OF '49 

could no longer throw the sand into the water, we used 
wheelbarrows. This was a very much slower process. 

We made the cut nine feet deep at the deepest point 
and finished it in width so that two teams could easily 
pass each other, but Mr. Hanson then claimed that it 
must be on a true grade. This would at least add one- 
third to the amount of work. But as we had no written 
contract, we concluded that the better way out of it was 
to make the cut as he proposed. 

Another matter that came into controversy later was 
about the width. At the time the contract was made, 
when Mr. Hanson said the cut must be of sufficient width 
for two teams to pass, I made the remark that that was 
very indefinite, and made the request that he should give 
the number of feet required at the bottom of the cut, and 
he did so. 

About this time Mr. Pinney received a letter from 
Pelham, N. H., which I suppose was from a Miss Young, 
with whom he had formerly been somewhat intimate, and 
whom he married later. This letter seemed to have such 
an effect upon him that he lost all interest in the work, 
and a few days later proposed to me that I should pay 
him for his share of the work completed. He said he 
had concluded to start for home at once. I pleaded in 
vain that he should remain until our contract was 
finished. 

I paid him for his interest and he started for San 
Francisco. We supposed the contract to be nearly fin- 
ished. I had met Mr. Elder and he informed me that 
he had met the surveyor-general of Oregon, John B. 
Preston of Illinois, in San Francisco. Mr. Preston was 



WITH COMPASS AND CHAIN IN OREGON 185 

not the first man appointed, the other having declined 
to accept the office. 

Mr. Elder had been employed as assistant engineer on 
the Michigan and Illinois canal in Illinois by the new 
surveyor-general. He said Mr. Preston had promised 
him work on the government survey. He intended to go 
to Oregon a little later and desired me to go with him. 
I agreed to go. 

I continued to work on the job and at length finished 
it, as I supposed. I had made the cut a true grade from 
the river to the point agreed upon, which made it 13 feet 
deep at the deepest point. The width was the number 
of feet stated by Mr. Hanson, but it was not quite wide 
enough to permit of two teams passing each other. 

I had also finished the cut on the Yuba City side as 
was agreed upon, and I supposed that Mr. Hanson would 
be willing to accept the work and pay the amount agreed 
upon. I informed him that the contract was completed 
and requested him to examine it. 

We went to the Marysville side, and after measuring 
the bottom of the deep cut Mr. Hanson said it was not 
sufficiently wide to permit two teams passing each other. 
I reminded him of the conversation in relation to the 
matter when the number of feet was given by him, but 
he could recollect nothing in relation to that matter. He 
insisted that it must be made considerably wider before 
it would be accepted. After having done about one-third 
more work than we really had contracted to do, to be 
required to make the cut two or three feet wider, when it 
was 150 feet long and 13 feet deep at the deepest point, 
seemed to me to be asking too much. But I found him 



186 THE GOLD SEEKERS OF '49 

determined not to pay for the work unless I yielded. I 
concluded to keep quiet and make the widening as he 
proposed. 

I made the alteration as he had suggested and again 
I informed him that the contract was completed. Again 
he went with me to the place of the cut, and also Mr. 
Bayliss was with us. 

Mr. Hanson began to measure and also to find fault 
with the work, claiming that the job was not nearly 
completed. He said he would not pay me until con- 
siderable more was done. 

I could endure it no longer, and I said to Mr. Hanson 
that he was the meanest man I had had any dealings 
with in California. Thereupon, he became almost frantic, 
and he immediately drew the square over my head. It 
was a heavy carpenter's steel square. He exclaimed that 
if I uttered another word he would split my head open! 
I immediately repeated the remark. Of course, it was 
not my intention to stand there quietly and permit him 
to cleave my head open, as he had threatened to do. But 
I stood still nevertheless, intending, if he attempted to 
strike me, to pursue the course that might seem to be 
best under the existing conditions. He threw down the 
weapon and said he would never pay me a dollar for 
the work until I had done a large amount more to finish 
it Determined not to yield now, I replied I had already 
removed about twice the amount of earth the contract 
called for at first ; that he had continually lied about it ; 
that no dependence whatever could be placed on his word 
or veracity; that he was a very unjust specimen of a 



WITH COMPASS AXD CHAIN IN OREGON 187 

man; and that I would never remove another shovelful 
of earth for him. 

He went away saying he would never pay me a cent. 
I was as fully determined I would do no more work on 
the job under any conditions. At first I thought I would 
sue him for the amount due me. After considering the 
matter for a day or two I concluded I would see what 
could be done with Mr. Bayliss, his partner, about the 
matter. I had been acquainted with him for a number 
of months, and had considered him an honest man. He 
had no part in making the contract so far as I was con- 
cerned. I went to him one day and informed him that 
I was about to go to Oregon and that I should like to 
settle the matter. As he was a partner with Mr. Hanson 
in the ferry, and I had always believed him to be a rea- 
sonable man, I had come to him to talk about the matter. 
Mr. Bayliss listened to my statements very kindly, but 
said he regretted the conversation that had taken place 
between Mr. Hanson and myself, li that had been 
otherwise he thought the matter might have been ad- 
justed with little trouble, but Mr. Hanson was a very 
passionate man, and as he was then feeling toward me, 
he would not agree to any settlement that would be sat- 
isfactory to me. He said it w^ould be of no use whatever 
to undertake to have Mr. Hanson agree to pay the full 
amount of the contract price, but provided I would con- 
sent to make a small discount he would see what ar- 
rangement could be made with him. When I again met 
Mr. Bayliss a little later, the proposed settlement had 
been agreed upon and he paid me accordingly. 



188 THE GOLD SEEKERS OF '49 

I soon after left Marysville for San Francisco, on my 
way to Oregon. At San Francisco I met Mr. Elder and 
also Mr. Pinney, who had been waiting here all this time 
for the sailing of the steamer for Panama. He expected 
now to sail within two or three days. He might as well 
have remained and assisted me finishing the contract. 

Mr. Pinney had brought his gold with him. It had 
been put up in several buckskin bags. After his arrival 
ill San Francisco, instead of depositing it in one of the 
banks for safe keeping during his stay in the city, he had 
buried it in the sands of one of the vacant lots of the 
city. 

AMien he went to recover it he failed to find it, when 
he became thoroughly alarmed. After a more thorough 
search, however, he found it. He said it had been re- 
moved from the place where he first deposited it and had 
been buried in another place. It was in vain I tried to 
make him believe that if anybody had taken the gold 
from its hiding place he would have carried it away, in- 
stead of concealing it in a new place, and he would never 
have got his hands on it again. While he admitted the 
force of the argument, he said he was perfectly sure that 
he found it in a different location from where he placed 
it. He said he was very nervous when he failed to find 
his fortune where he had buried it. 

Almost any one would be nervous under similar condi- 
tions. However, it was always my opinion that he found 
it at the exact spot where he had placed it, but that he 
had mistaken the locality. Probably Mr. Pinney's deposit 
of gold did not weigh less than from twenty to twenty- 



WITH COMPASS AND CHAIN IN OEEGON 189 

five pounds, which would make an awkward pocket com- 
panion. 

I had been in California two winters and one summer, 
or a little over nineteen months. As a whole I had en- 
joyed my experiences quite well. 

We remained in San Francisco a few days, waiting for 
the sailing of the steamer for Portland, Oregon, and left 
on Wednesday, June 4, 1851, in the Pacific mail steam- 
After we had passed out through the Golden Gate into 
the Pacific ocean, the sea became quite rough, but as I 
had never been on the ocean before, I did not realize 
it was any rougher than usual. Nearly all the passengers 
were seasick. I thought I should escape, but in the even- 
ing I also became a victim. The seasickness stood by 
me for two or three days, and was the only time, with 
one exception, I was ever afflicted that way. 

We passed over the bar at the mouth of the Columbia 
river on Sunday, June 8th, and arrived at Portland, 
Oregon, on Monday the 9th, where we remained over 
night. 

On Tuesday, June loth, we passed up the River 
Willamette, about twelve miles, to Oregon City, in a 
small, open iron steamer, that probably might safely 
carry 15 or 20 passengers. 

At the time we arrived in Oregon the surveys had been 
commenced by two parties. The meridian and base lines 
had to be established and run for greater or lesser dis- 
tances before any other surveys could be made. 

The surveyor-general had taken with him from the 
states several experienced surveyors and quite a number 
of other persons to engage in the surveys. A point near 



190 THE GOLD SEEKEES OF '49 

Portland was selected from which to the commence the 
meridian and base lines. Mr. James E. Freeman, a man 
who had been a deputy surveyor in Wisconsin, had been 
awarded the contract to run the meridian line south from 
Portland, and William Ives, another experienced gov- 
ernment surveyor, had taken the contract to extend the 
meridian line north from the same point to Puget Sound. 
These parties were engaged at running the meridian line 
at the time of our arrival in Oregon, and had all the 
assistance needed, so there was no prospect for any 
work on the surveys for me for an indefinite time. 

I had been studying surveying when an opportunity 
presented itself, but knew practically nothing of the gov- 
ernment system of public surveys. There seemed to' be 
but little work to be had at Oregon City, and board was 
quite high. 

Mr. Elder was engaged by the surveyor-general as 
chief clerk in the surveyor-general's office. I was a 
stranger to the surveyor-general and all his deputies that 
he brought with him, and I knew that he would provide 
places for all his own party before a stranger like myself 
would receive any attention. Yet, I knew Mr. Elder was 
a good friend to me, but as he was engaged in the office, 
the prospect seemed to be that he would have no contract, 
consequently could give me no assistance that was most 
needed by me. It. seemed to me that I had made a mis- 
take in leaving California, and I thought seriously of 
returning. But through Mr. Elder's encouragement I 
was induced to remain. 

We boarded at a hotel which was one of two kept in 
Oregon City, where board was six dollars a week, or 



WITH COMPASS AND CHAIN IN OREGON 191 

one dollar and fifty cents per day. One little incident 
that transpired while at this hotel I will relate to show 
how sometimes people injure themselves in being too 
sharp in small affairs. At the time I came to this hotel 
it was quite uncertain what length of time I should re- 
main. So I had an understanding with the landlord that 
if my stay should be a week or more, the price would be 
by the week, but should it be less than a week, I should 
pay the price by the day. 

After remaining for about three days, I concluded to 
leave for a time, and as it was uncertain when I should 
return, I settled my board bill, paying the day price. It 
so happened that I returned on the evening of the same 
day, and occupied my room as before. I then remained 
during the remainder of the wxek and some days over. 
When I came to settle my board with the landlord he 
presented a bill made up by the day price for the time 
after I had paid him. 

I claimed the agreement was, if I remained for a whole 
week, or seven days or more, that the price should be 
by the week, and that the fact that I settled with him 
and made a payment at the middle of the week did not 
change the matter, so far as right and justice was con- 
cerned. At the time of the former settlement I paid him 
a part of a week's board, and that now I was to pay him 
the balance. But he failed to see the matter in that light, 
and claimed the day price. 

Consequently, I paid him on his basis by the day, but 
I left him to board at the other hotel, "Mosses," where 
I ever after stayed when in Oregon City. 



192 THE GOLD SEEKERS OF '49 

Soon after arriving in Oregon I went south up the 
Willemette valley among the farmers, thinking possibly I 
would find some work for a time, but as I found no em- 
ployment, I returned to Oregon City after a few days. 

Some one informed me that a mill was being erected 
on the Tualitan River, a few miles from Oregon City, 
and that the owner of the mill needed some more help. 

I went to the location where the mill was being built 
and engaged to work for three dollars a day and board 
for a short time. I commenced work on Monday, June 
30th. The labor was very hard, it being on a dam across 
the stream, which was being constructed of stone, brush 
and gravel. All of this material had to carried by hand. 

I labored on the dam for twelve days, when it was 
nearly completed, and the proprietor, Mr. Madden, dis- 
charged a considerable part of his help. He had other 
work to be done in building the sawmill and its founda- 
tions, etc. He said to me he should pay his laborers only 
two dollars per day after that date, but that if I would 
remain he would pay me two dollars and fifty cents. I 
continued on the job until the 3d day of August. 

About this time Mr. Elder one day came over to see 
me and informed me that he had contracted with the gov- 
ernment to resurvey Oregon City and desired me to 
assist him in the work. At that time he had very little 
work in the office, as none of the surveys had been com- 
pleted. I went to Oregon City, but it was some time 
before he was prepared to commence the job of resur- 
veying the town. In the meantime I was pursuing the 
study of surveying in earnest. 




MINERS STARTING FOR HOME. 



WITH COMPASS AND CHAIN IN OPiEGON 193 

We commenced the survey on Thursday, August 2ist^ 
and completed it on September 29th, making an entirely 
new survey and setting the bounds, which was authorized 
and approved by the United States government. 

While at work on the Tualitan River, the last part of 
my work there had been on the river, clearing it from 
sunken timbers and obstructions, so as to permit logs 
being floated down to the mill. 

During the time that I was engaged on the Oregon 
City survey for Mr. Elder, the contracts had been let 
to survey township lines, one to Butler Ives, a brother of 
William Ives, dated August 15; one to William Ives, 
dated September 10; and one to James E. Freeman, 
dated September 17. These contracts provided for the 
surveying of the exterior lines of twenty townships, 
within the most thickly settled part of the Willamette 
valley, and principally south of Oregon City, reaching as 
far south as Township No. 10, or near to Albany on 
the Willamette River. 

Mr. Elder made arrangements with Mr. Freeman, 
when the work at Oregon City should be completed for 
me to go out and work for him. Mr. Freeman's contract 
included some of the Willamette and Santiam Rivers, 
and extended southerly so as to include townships 6, 7, 
8, 9 and 10 south of range i west, and townships 9 and 
10 south of ranges 2, 3 and 4 west, with a part of the 
2d standard parallel south. This work was from 30 to 
50 miles south of Oregon City. 

After the Oregon City work had been completed, I 
left the place and traveled on foot and alone southerly to 
the point where Mr. Freeman's party was at work, and 



194 THE GOLD SEEKERS OF '49 

found them without trouble. Mr. Freeman had five or 
six men in his party, a part of whose names I yet recall. 

Zenas F. Moody from Chicopee, Mass., who went to 
Oregon at or about the same time as the surveyor-gen- 
eral. He was young, only 20 years of age. He after- 
Vv^ards became governor of Oregon for four years. An- 
other was George W. Hyde, a brother-in-law of Mr. 
Preston, the surveyor-general ; and another was Allen F. 
Seymour, of New York state, all of whom went to 
Oregon with the party of Mr. Preston, and had worked 
with Mr. Freeman on the meridian line. Mr. Moody 
and Mr. Seymour were chainmen. 

All the government public land surveys were required 
to be made with Burt's patent solar compass. This \vas 
an instrument that was guided by the sun instead of the 
magnetic needle, and was of far greater accuracy. It 
was provided with a needle that could be used when it 
was impossible, from any cause, to make use of the sun. 

The township lines were all required to be surveyed 
by the sun, but subdivisions were permitted to be made 
ill part by the needle, at such places where local attrac- 
tion did not exist to great extent. At this time I knew 
nothing whatever in regard to the working of the solar 
compass. I had never even seen the instrument. It is 
very reliable, but is provided with several arcs, which 
must be constantly adjusted ; the most important of these 
are the latitude arc and the declination arc. The exact 
latitude, even to one minute of a degree, of the place of 
work, must be set off on the latitude arc, and the declina- 
tion of the sun, north or south, must be set off on the 
declination arc, also to the exact minute for the month, 



WITH COMPASS AND CHAIN IN OREGON 195 

day and hour, otherwise the instrument would not give 
the true meridian of the sun. 

The next morning after I came into camp Mr. Free- 
man told me to take the axe for that day. He also 
told me to blaze the trees that stood on each side and 
near to the line as run by the compassman where there 
were trees, and to prepare posts for the section and 
quarter-section corners. I have a distinct recollection of 
feeling considerably embarrassed, as I did not fully 
comprehend all the duties I was expected to perform. It 
was all new to me. 

The line was started and the first tree that needed to 
be marked was blazed on the proper side, but I made it 
quite low down. I went along the line a short distance 
and turned about, facing the tree I had marked. It at 
once occurred to me that the purpose of blazing those 
trees was for a guide by which to follow the lines, and 
that marks should be made sufficiently high so as to be 
readily seen at a distance, and that afterwards I would 
make the marks higher up on the trees. 

While I stood looking at the marked tree, Mr. Free- 
man said : "Make the marks a little higher on the trees." 
Mr. Hyde gave me some instructions as to what the cor- 
ner posts should be, and how they should be prepared, 
and I soon became familiar with the duties of an "axe- 
man." I continued to perform these duties for several 
weeks, until one day Mr. Freeman said to me that per- 
haps I might thing it strange he kept me as axeman so 
long. He had not at first intended to do so, but they 
had tried two or three before I came and could not make 



196 THE GOLD SEEKEES OF '49 

them understand the work. As I had done it so well 
he had hesitated about making a change. 

This was the first time that I had known if I had given 
even ordinary satisfaction. I said to him that I v/as 
satisfied, that I had enjoyed the work, and that I felt 
greatly pleased if I had given satisfaction. 

Mr. Freeman was not an expert mathematician, and as 
I had studied trigonometry pretty thoroughly, I could cal- 
culate distances very readily by logarithmic sines. There 
were many triangulations to make and distances to cal- 
culate across rivers and bayous. When I first began 
work for Mr. Freeman, he requested that I would make 
the calculations of the distances with him. He would 
work them by the traverse table, and I by logarithmic 
sines. Sometimes we would agree in our results, but 
very often we would obtain difi^erent results, and in such 
cases we would each go over the work again. In almost 
every such instance the error was found in his work. 

After a time he gave up making all such calculations 
and trusted it wholly to me, unless they were of a very 
simple character. 

Mr. Hyde left the party soon after I began work for 
Mr. Freeman. He assisted him in making the calcula- 
tions before I came. It was very important that the 
work of the calculations of these triangulations and dis- 
tances should be done correctly, as a small error was 
liable to cause much trouble later, and sometimes might 
cost hundreds of dollars to correct. 

We continued the work, but in November, previous to 
the finishing of the contract, the rainy season began and 



WITH COMPASS AND CHAIX IX OREGOX 197 

there was much rainy and cloudy weather, so the survey 
was continued under considerable difficulty. 

About November 20 Mr. Freeman concluded to go to 
Oregon City. The contract was not completed, but with 
favorable weather it could be finished in a short time. 
Mr. Freeman went to the surveyor-general's office at 
Oregon City to return the field notes of the surveys he 
had completed, and to get a contract for sub-divisions. 

The camp was broken up and he discharged all his 
help, excepting Mr. Moody and myself. He authorized 
us to remain and await his return, and to board with a 
family, and see to the pack horses. In case it should 
become fair weather previous to his return, so the solar 
apparatus could be used to advantage. I could try to 
survey a new township line. I had not at that time 
undertaken to make any surveys with the solar compass, 
though I had been learning by observation about its 
workings. 

The first week after Mr. Freeman's departure the 
weather continued cloudy or rainy the greater part of the 
time, and we could do no work on the township line, but 
one of the settlers desired me to make a survey of his 
claim, which was one mile square. This could be done 
by the needle. The lines were to be made to conform 
to the cardinal points, due north, south, east and west, 
but otherwise were not required to conform to the public 
surveys. I agreed to survey it for him, and after the 
starting corner was pointed out, we began the work. 
This was my first experience in surveying any lengthy 
line, my experience having been on city lots. We were 
to survey around one square mile, making four equal 



198 THE GOLD SEEKERS OF ^49 

side, each one mile in length. Of course, I felt some 
nervousness about the closing. Should errors be made 
they would show at this point. About one-half of the 
land was in the prairie, and the balance in timber land. 

I managed the compass, and Mr. Moody, with another 
man, were chainmen. The man for whom we were mak- 
ing the survey remarked that he supposed I had had a 
good deal of experience in that kind of work. I did not 
inform him that I was then engaged in making my 
maiden survey. When we had surveyed three sides of 
the quadrangle, and were running toward the starting 
point on the fourth, or last side, the owner began to 
predict about where we would come out in relation to 
the point of beginning. 

He declared there would be quite a wide distance from 
the point of beginning. This, as was natural, caused me 
to be more nervous. However, I made no reply, and 
when the survey was completed, it proved to be a very 
satisfactory close. This gave me more confidence, and 
as another man near by desired a similar survey made, 
we made that with equal satisfaction. 

About the second week of Mr. Freeman's absence the 
weather cleared up and the sun shone, and Mr. Moody 
and myself started the survey of the township line. I 
was compassman, as before, and assisted him in mak- 
ing the measurements with the chain. This was an east 
and west line, six miles long, and was run as a ''random 
line," as they were called. All east and west lines were 
random lines, as at first surveyed, and were afterwards 
corrected according to the amount of error found in 
closing. Later I surveyed many township lines, but I 



WITH COMPASS AND CHAIN IN OREGON 199 

believe that was the most difficult one I ever surveyed. 
Soon after we commenced it we ran into the Santiam 
bottom and river, and the line followed the stream, 
crossing and recrossing almost the entire distance. The 
impassible parts of this line of six miles, which was 
measured by us by triangulations and offsets, amounted 
to very nearly, if not quite, one-half of its entire length. 

It was a tedious and discouraging task for a beginner. 
But we worked upon it steadily, when the sun favored us, 
and at the end of nearly a week we reached the town cor- 
ner. I had run a due west line, and at the end fell 
farther from the corner than I had expected. Con- 
sequently, I did not feel fully satisfied with the outcome 
of my work. 

We did not correct the line, however, as I supposed 
Mr. Freeman would make a new survey when he should 
return. In fact, we had no time to correct the line, as 
Mr. Freeman returned after an absence of about two 
weeks. I explained to him what we had accomplished 
during his absence, and how the township line had closed. 
After he had made an examination of his field notes 
of the closing six miles farther north, he said it was 
really the best close that had been made on that contract, 
it having closed with less variation, as compared v/ith 
the parellel line six miles north of it. We soon after 
finished the contract. 

While at Oregon City Mr. Freeman took the contract 
to subdivide townships 9 and 10 S. range, i west ; 8 and 9 
S. range 2 W. and 9 S. range 3 W., it being a part of 
the townships of which we had surveyed the exterior 
lines. This contract was dated November 28, 1851. 



200 THE GOLD SE IvKEiJS OF ^49 

After we had finished the first contract we began the 
subdivision. There were 60 miles of surveys of sub- 
divisions in each township. At first I acted as one of 
the chainmen with Mr. Moody, and Mr. Freeman was 
compassman. Soon after we had started, however, Mr. 
Freeman asked me to relieve him so as to give him time 
to write up his field notes. The result was before we 
were half done I was compassman substantially all the 
time, and so continued until the contract was completed. 

The winter of 1851-52 was quite a rainy one in 
Oregon, and some time during the rainy season Mr. 
Freeman concluded to dispense with the camp and de* 
pend upon the settlers for accommodations. Nearly all 
the settlers held their claims under the Donation Law, 
so called, passed by Congress September 27, 1850. 

These claims principally consisted of 640 acres, equal 
to one square mile of land, which, when taking account 
of the lands unsettled, caused the residences to be at a 
considerable distance from each other, generally from 
one-half mile to three miles. 

In some respects this arrangement of seeking accom- 
modations with the settlers was satisfactory, and in other 
respects it was not. In many instances, after our work 
for the day had been completed, when we were wet and 
hungry, we were obliged to travel from two to four 
miles before reaching a house. The houses there at that 
time were log cabins, the great majority of which con- 
tained but one room, with perhaps a small ''loft." 

So, many times when we reached the first house after 
a long walk, and made the inquiry if we could be ac- 
commodated with supper, lodging and breakfast, or in 



WITH COMPASS AND CHAIN IN OKEGON 201 

western language: "If we could get to stay over night?" 
the reply almost nivariably would be: *'We have no 
accommodations to keep folks." At the next house we 
probably could *'get to stay," as they "kept folks." The 
estimate of the distance to the next house was almost 
invariably given at not more than one-half of the actual 
distance. When we at length arrived at the next house 
a similar story, in most cases, would be told, so that on 
some occasion we traveled until quite late in the even- 
ing before we could succeed in finding lodging for the 
night. The next morning we were obliged to retrace the 
same road to reach the place where we had quit work 
the evening previous. These people, however, were very 
hospitable and could not be censured with justice. A 
majority of them were immigrants from Missouri and 
other western states, and many of them had lived on the 
frontier during their whole lives. 

In many cases where we stopped for the night, the 
cabin contained one room only, of a fair size, say 15 
by 20 feet, and the family would consist of man and 
wife, and from five to ten children, in some instances 
including two or three girls nearly women grown. Of 
course, families so situated could not be expected to 
have accommodations for three or four tired, hungry 
men. However, in many cases we would prevail upon 
them to consent to keep us, and they would do the very 
best that they were able to do under the existing con- 
ditions. 

They would divide their bed, putting the feather bed 
on the floor for the use of their guests. This was done 
for us in many instances. After managing in this way 



^02 THE GOLD SEEKEllS OF '49 

for a time, and becoming familiar with the ways and 
manners of the people, I knew much better how to man- 
age the matter of getting kept over night. I learned that 
if we should assume a simple ''No" with excuses, more 
or less elaborate, was to be taken as a final refusal, that 
we would find very few places of accommodations. 

Later I made it a point to get into the inside of the 
house before the request was made for accommodations 
for the night. I would not even await an invitation to 
step inside, but no sooner than the door was open I 
would at once enter, if possible, without being conspic- 
uously ungentlemanly. Sometimes I would inquire for 
a drink of water and gain admission thereby. Once in- 
side I found the battle more than half won. We couW 
then almost always induce the good people to keep us. 

The surveying of the public lands may be thought by 
many to be light, easy work, but it is really hard and 
rough. The surveyors are subjected to much exposure, 
especially in the winter or rainy season. 

The winters in Oregon, as in California, are called 
"rainy seasons.^' There is much rainy weather and some 
snow, but the snows are usually damp and soon melt 
away in the valleys. The weather is seldom very cold, 
but is sometimes cold enough to cause thin ice to form 
on the surface of standing water. 

During the rainy season in Oregon the small streams 
were full and all the sloughs and swampy places were 
at times overflowed with water. At that time ferries had 
been established across some of the larger streams at 
certain points. The smaller streams had to be forded. 



WITH COMPASS AND CHAIN IN OREGON 203 

We had very much wading to do in crossing streams, 
sloughs and swamps, quite often having to wade places 
where the water was not less than three or four feet 
deep. The water was necessarily cold, but after a few 
days of experience we would become accustomed to it, 
so we would not mind it very much. When a pair of 
new boots were purchased, before they were worn, a 
slit would be made in each one, near the sole, at the 
inside of the instep to give drainage for the water to 
pass out. We had a great amount of similar wading 
to do on this contract. 

I will relate only one from many experiences which 
came my way during the fall of 1851. When Mr. Free- 
man was surveying the meridian line, he had a transit 
with his party, to make triangulations to distant moun- 
tain peaks and other topograpical objects that might 
come within range on either side. 

This transit, from a fall or some other accident, be- 
came injured, so it became entirely useless for the pur- 
pose of making triangulations, and it was left by Mr. 
Freeman at a farmhouse. Previous to his visit to 
Oregon City in November, he concluded to take the 
transit along with him to the surveyor-general's office. 

One morning he desired me to go for the instrument 
and bring it to camp. He gave me the name of the man 
where it had been left, and the location of the house was 
pointed out on the plan. As I remember, the location 
was about twelve or fourteen miles distant. 

Our camp was to be removed on that day, so that on 
my return it would be necessary for me to pursue a dif- 
ferent course from the one in going. I started and found 



204 THE GOLD SEEKERS OF '49 

the house without difficulty, and after partaking of some 
dinner and settHng all bills due the proprietor, I started 
in the direction of which I expected to find our camp. 
In my journey to the house I found a comparatively dry 
road, and was not obliged to go through any deep water. 

It was considerably into the afternoon when I started 
on the home journey and I did not suppose I would be 
able to reach camp that evening, but concluded to take the 
chances of finding a house where I could remain over 
night. After traveling two or three miles I reached a 
stream of considerable depth, which I waded, coming out 
pretty thoroughly soaked. A short distance farther on 
I entered a large prairie. The weather was cloudy, but 
it did not rain very much. I kept on and was able to 
pursue the proper course by the help of the instrument, 
until it became dark, when a dense fog settled down upon 
the plain. I could see only a short distance and was not 
able to see to read the bearing of the needle of the 
transit. I had no other guide to direct my course except 
a very slight movement of the atmosphere, which was 
scarcely perceptible. 

However, I kept the course as well as I was able to 
do, thinking the most probable outcome would be that 
I would be obliged to remain on the prairie until the 
next morning. 

Some time between eight and nine o'clock in the even- 
ing, I heard the low of a cow at my left, at about a 
right angle with the course I was then traveling. I im- 
mediately shaped my course toward the point from 
which the sound came, supposing there would be a farm- 



WITH COMPASS AND CHAIX IX OREGON 205 

house in that vicmity. I soon came upon a Httle trail or 
road, which I followed, but I had not gone a great dis- 
tance before I came to a slough, at that time filled with 
water. As the weather had been quite cool, the water 
was frozen over to the thickness of half an inch. I 
waded into the water where the trail entered it, and 
broke my way through the ice. Before I reached the 
opposite side, I found the water nearly four feet deep, 
and it was no easy task to break the ice. so as to make 
my way through. 

After a time I reached the opposite side and soon after 
saw a dim light through the fog. I went in the direction 
of the light and soon reached a house, where the in- 
mates had retired for the night. I found the people to 
be very hospitable. The good lady of the house arose 
and prepared a supper for me, and during the night 
dried my wet clothing before the fire. The next morn- 
ing I traveled to camp. 

We completed the contract about the first of March 
and immediately after went to Oregon City. The pay at 
this time for chainmen, axemen and campmen on the sur- 
veys was about two dollars a day. Mr. Freeman paid 
me a larger compensation, but I do not remember the 
price. After our arrival at Oregon City, Mr. Elder said 
to me that he had resigned his position as chief clerk at 
the office of the surveyor-general, and should go on the 
field work. He was to have a contract, and desired me 
to work in his employ. I agreed to do so. 

He received a contract dated March 25, 1852. This 
contract was for the survey of the exterior lines of town- 
ships I, 2, 3, 4 and 5 south, of range 3 and 4 west, with 



206 THE GOLD SEEKERS OF '49 

a part of the first standard parallel south. This amounted 
to about 1 20 miles of surveys at $17 a mile. 

This contract was principally in the Yamhill valley, 
westerly and southwesterly from Oregon City. The 
work was all within 25 miles of the surveyor-general's 
office. 

Mr. Elder had procured me a solar compass, for which 
I paid him $350. 

We began the contract about the first of April and 
finished it near the end of May. I was compassman on 
substantially all the lines of the contract, while Mr. Elder 
wrote the field notes and made the plats. 

I received a commission as a United States deputy 
surveyor, April 25, 1852, from John B. Preston, sur- 
veyor-general of Oregon. 

As soon as the contract was completed we went to 
Oregon City, and Mr. Elder proposed that my name 
should be associated with his in a contract for subdi- 
visions, so as to be able to obtain a contract of ten town- 
ships, instead of five, the number usually awarded to 
one deputy in a single contract. 

I was to work for him and have charge of one party, 
while he would have charge of a second party. I agreed 
to this. The contract to Elder & Webster was dated 
June 8, 1852, and was for the subdivisions of townships 
3 and 5 south range, 2 west; i, 3, 4 and 5 south range, 
3 west ; and 2, 3, 4 and 5 south range, 4 west. This in- 
cluded all the townships, with two exceptions, of which 
we hade made the surveys of the exterior lines, and in- 
cluded two townships in range 2 which had been sur- 
veyed by Deputy William Ives. The number of miles 



WITH COMPASS AND CHAIN IN OREGON 207 

contained in the contract to be surveyed was estimated 
at 660. The subdivisions, or interior lines of a township, 
amount to about 60 miles, provided there are no streams 
or lakes to be measured. All stream considered navigable 
are measured on both sides. 

In this contract were portions of the Willamette and 
the Yamhill Rivers, which were measured. 

We left Oregon City on or about June 9th. We made 
up two parties. Mr. Elder managed one party and I the 
other. In my party were Henry S. Gile, from Alfred, 
Maine, a very intelligent man, who acted as one of my 
chainmen ; James M. Fudge from Sangamon county, 
Illinois, also a very fine young man (he was killed by 
the explosion of a steamboat boiler a short distance above 
the falls at Oregon City, in the spring of 1854) ; Andrew 
Murphy, an intelligent Irish-American citizen from St. 
Louis, Mo. ; and James O'Connor, as compassman. The 
last named was an inhabitant of Oregon, a young man. 
At this time I do not remember the names of Mr. Elder's 
party with the exception of Matthew Murphy, a brother 
to Andrew, and who assisted Mr. Elder in the manage- 
ment of the compass before the contract was completed. 

We had good working forces on this contract and 
consequently had a very pleasant time. I made consid- 
erably more than half of the surveys with my party. 

We were engaged on this contract about four months, 
or until about the 8th of October, when we went to 
Oregon City and made up our field notes and plats, and 
returned them to the surveyor-general's office. Mr. Elder 
paid me something more than $100 a month for my 
work. 



208 THE GOLD SEEKEES OF '49 

My health had continued good all through the sum- 
mer, until just previous to the time of finishing of the 
contract, when I was taken ill but managed to lead my 
party and do my work until the survey was completed. 

After we went to Oregon City I did not improve. I 
procured some medicine once or twice from an English 
physician. Mr. Elder said I was afflicted with a fever of 
some kind, and I thought later that probably he was 
right. Be that as it may, I was quite sick for three or 
four weeks, although I was out more or less every day 
during the whole time. Finally, I began to improve, and 
about the first of December I had nearly recovered my 
usual good health. 

Up to this time I had had no contract on my own 
account, but it was understood that I should receive a 
contract of subdivisions for winter. This was under 
President Filmore's administration and of course Mr. 
Preston, the surveyor-general was a Whig, politically, as 
was Mr. Elder. 

One day when I was in the surveyor-general's office, 
Mr. Preston called me into his private office and inquired 
in regard to my politics. This surprised me as I had 
supposed he knew, and I could not help wondering how 
much bearing my reply would have in awarding me a 
contract. I immediately said I was a Democrat, and 
asked if that would make any difference about awarding 
me a contract. 

He said it would not with him, but with surveyor-gen- 
erals generally a distinction was made, and contracts 
were only awarded to deputies of their own political 
faith. 




SEAL OF CALIFORNIA IN ITS EARLIER DAYS. 



WITH COMPASS AXD CHAIN" IN OREGON 209 

Mr. Preston was a fine man, and had always been 
very kind to me. I never knew the object of his making 
the inquiry, but I afterwards supposed he did it to test 
my honesty, and to see if I would equivocate in any way 
in relation to my political principles. If I had pursued 
such a course it is possible I might not have fared as well 
as I did. He said that a majority of his deputies were 
Democrats. Mr. Freeman, William Ives, and his 
brother, Butler Ives, and Joseph Hunt were all of that 
party. 

He awarded me a contract. No. 27, dated December i, 
1852, for the subdivisions of township No. 14 south, 
ranges i, 2, 3, 4 and 5 west, estimated at 315 miles, at 
$10 per mile. 

I made up my party and left Oregon City about a 
week later, going up the River Willamette on a steamer 
to Salem, where I had arranged to have the ''pack 
horses" meet us, and where we camped near the river. 
A storm began soon after we arrived at Salem, and it 
continued for two or three days, so it was impracticable 
to attempt to move up the valley until the rain should 
cease. Our work was about 50 miles southerly from 
Salem. 

After three or four days the weather became fair and 
pleasant, and we packed up our camp and moved 
southerly up the valley of the Willamette. 

The river, with all the streams, was very much swollen 
from the recent rains, and we were obliged to do con- 
siderable wading, some of which was quite deep. As I 
had but a short time previously recovered from quite a 



310 THE GOLD SEEKERS OF ^49 

severe illness, and had not been so exposed for several 
weeks, I took cold. 

I felt the cold quite severely on the first night out 
from Salem. On the second evening I had, as I believe, 
as severe a cold as I ever experienced in my whole life. 
After the other men had turned in for the night I in- 
quired if any one of them had anything that would cure 
a cold. One of them replied that he had some cayenne 
pepper in his valise and told me where I could find it, and 
he told me that a teaspoonful in hot water was a proper 
dose. After heating some water I put in a tablespoonful 
of the cayenne, stirred it thoroughly, and drank dregs 
and all. I am now convinced it was the warmest dose 
I ever drank, but I immediately laid down for the night, 
and when I arose the next morning, my cold had nearly 
disappeared. It troubled me very little afterward. This, 
I believe, was the only serious cold I experienced while in 
Oregon. 

We were about three days in making the trip from 
Salem and we began work December 17, in township No. 
14 south, range 3, west. The Willamette River ran 
through township 14, range 4 and 5, west. The Calla- 
pooza, a small river, also passed through some of the 
townships. 

There was much rainy weather through the last part 
of December, and also during January, 1853, all the 
streams and swales being full of water. 

I don't recollect the names of the men who made up 
my party, with the exception of one, whose name was 
McDonald. Whenever we got into a hard place, he was 
always complaining, and would say that he should quit 



WITH CO:\IPASS AXD CHAIN IK OREGON 211 

work. He was not the sort of a man 1 desired, but I 
did not wish to have him leave, as he had a sympathizer 
in the party who would be pretty sure to leave if he did, 
and that would break up my gang. It would probably 
trouble me to supply their places at that time. 

We finished one township on January 3, and com- 
menced upon the one next west in range 4. The 
Willamette River intersected the western boundary of 
this township, which it crossed four times, and also 
crossed its south boundary. We had completed about 
two-thirds of the easterly part of this township when one 
day it became necessary to cross the Willamette River 
and bring out a line before we could make any farther 
progress. 

I made some inquiries of some of the settlers in rela- 
tion to a boat, and learned of a man nearby who owned 
a ''dugout," but upon seeing him he declared it would 
be impossible to cross the river in its swollen condition. 
We went to the river where the boat was located and th% 
situation for crossing did really look to be somewhat 
dangerous to be undertaken at that time with such a 
craft. I had many times used similar boats to cross 
streams. 

A "dugout" is a boat made from a log, being dug out, 
as its name implies, and many of them are not very 
steady on the water, overturning very easily. This was 
one of the unsteady kind, and the river at the point where 
the boat lay at that time was very rapid. A short dis- 
tance below was the upper end of an island, against 
which a large quantity of drift timber had lodged and 
against which the current was lashing itself with great 



212 THE GOLD SEEKEES OF '49 

force. After considering the situation for a few mo- 
ments I concluded that I could make the crossing, as I 
was obliged to do, or await the fall of the river. The 
boat was so small and frail that it was not safe for us 
all to undertake to cross at one time. I said to the men 
of the party that I could take them safely over, as I 
believed, provided they would do just as I should com- 
mand them, and not become frightened. I said also that 
we must cross the river or lie still until the freshet should 
subside, which might be several days ; that I would 
leave it to them to decide whether to go or not, as it 
was, as I knew, attended with some danger to make the 
attempt to cross. 

Possibly we might meet with some accident, and if 
so, we probably would fare hard. They concluded to 
make the attempt. I took two men into the boat with 
me, together with the instruments. The men sat on the 
bottom of the boat to steady it, and after giving them 
their instructions, 1 pulled the boat into the current. 
Though the passage was difficult we went safely across 
to the other side of the river. But our troubles had only 
begun. The lowlands along the river were overflowed 
to a depth of several feet ; in places it was so deep that 
it was impossible to wade it, so that it was necessary to 
make triangulations. The country was timbered, and 
brushy, and the lines crossed the island. 

We were wading in the water nearly all day. I be- 
lieve now, considering the water, brush and all the con- 
ditions there present, it was the most difficult line of equal 
length that I encountered on all the surveys I made while 
in Oregon. 



WITH COMPASS AND CHAIN IN OREGON 213 

It crossed the river at a little more than one-half mile 
from the corner at which we began, and we worked in 
the water nearly the entire day, but got the line across 
before night. 

At the time when we were wading in the deep cold 
water, Mr. McDonald began to complain as usual, and 
said he would quit the job. I was feeling a little out 
of patience myself, and I said to him that he had been 
saying about the same thing whenever we got into a hard 
place, and that I had become tired of hearing it. I ad- 
vised him either to stop such talk or quit at once. He 
replied that he would quit after that day. I said, "all 
right.'' The next morning when we prepared to start for 
our work, he said to me that he supposed I understood 
he was to quit work. I remarked that I had heard him 
say as much when we were in the water the day pre- 
vious, but that I had concluded that probably he had 
changed his mind in the meantime. He went to work 
again and continued for several days, when he concluded 
to quit, and his companion went with him. 

This broke up our party, when it was near the first 
of February. My contract at that date was less than 
one-half completed. As I was getting short of supplies 
that were impossible to procure from the settlers, I sent 
the campman with the horses to Albany, it being about 
twenty-five miles northerly, down the Willamette valley, 
and gave him orders to procure such supplies as were 
needed, and to hire two good men. I remained alone in 
an unfinished log house while he was absent, about one 
week, and was engaged in copying my field notes. He 
returned with provisions and brought along with him 



214 THE GOLD SEEKEES OF '49 

two men that proved themselves to be very good help. 
After this time we had much better weather, and also 
an improved party. I finished the contract about the 25th 
of March, and went to Oregon City with my returns. 

Before my return to Oregon City, Mr. Elder had ar- 
ranged for a double contract in the Umqua valley, and 
had the name of Harry S. Gile associated with his own 
in a similar way that he had my name used in the con- 
tract a year previous. 

As at that time I could have no contract of my own 
until later, Mr. Elder suggested that I go with him to the 
Umqua valley. As Mr. Gile had had but little experience 
as a compassman I could help him survey the township 
lines, and return in season to get a contract of my own; 
which would probably be available later. I at once 
agreed to his proposition. 

The location of the contract was about 150 miles south 
of Oregon City on an air line, and included the best part 
of the Umqua valley. It consisted of eight or ten town- 
ships, both the exterior and interior lines, or between 
700 and 800 miles of surveys. 

We left Oregon City for Umqua about the middle of 
April, 1853. It was a good country to survey, and Mr. 
Elder made it well. I remained until the contract was 
completed, some time near September ist, or between 
four and five months. 

I surveyed the larger part of the township lines and 
considerably more than one-half of the subdivision. Mr. 
Gile worked one party, and I the other, while Mr. Elder 
copied the field notes and drew the maps. 

A short time previous to the completion of the con- 



WITH COMPASS AXD CHAIN IN OREGON 215 

tract, Mr. Elder proposed to me that if I would remain 
and complete the work, he would go to the surveyor- 
general's office at Oregon City and get a large contract 
in the Rouge River valley, the same to be a company 
contract for Mr. Elder and myself. 

The Rouge River valley was about seventy-five miles 
south-easterly from the place where we were then at 
work, and the understanding was to move our parties 
over there from the Umqua country, and thus save the 
breaking up of the parties. I at once consented to the 
proposition, and Mr. Elder was to start for Oregon City 
at once, both of us feeling certain he would be able to 
procure the contract. 

Before he had started, however, we received informa- 
tion that an Indian war had broken out at the Rouge 
River valley. That put a stop to our proposed contract. 
Of course, we could do no surveying during an Indian 
war. The war continued during the succeeding three or 
four months. 

General Joe Lane was then in Oregon, and with the 
United States regular army that was stationed there, to- 
gether with volunteers, he secured peace. But a large 
number of the white inhabitants lost their lives during 
the outbreak. It happened very fortunate for our sur- 
veying party that it did not occur a month later, when 
we should probably have been surveying in that valley, 
and probably some of us would have lost our scalps. 

The war was said to have been caused by the abuse of 
the daughter of the chief by some gold miners who 
were at work on Rouge River, and as the perpetrators of 
the foul deed immediately left the place, so that the 



216 THE GOLD SEEKEKS OF '49 

chief could not punish the guilty parties, he made prep- 
arations to exterminate all the white people then in the 
valley. Nothing was known in relation to his intentions 
by the whites until his arrangements were completed. 

One day when all was in readiness, as he supposed, 
the Indians commenced shooting down the whites indis- 
criminately in Jacksonville, the principal village of the 
Rouge River settlement. In this instance, as in one or 
two other Indian outbreaks that I knew something about 
while I was in the Indian country, the trouble was caused 
by ill treatment of the Indians by the whites, and I 
firmly believe the same, or similar causes, have produced 
similar results in the great majority of Indian wars and 
massacres since the discovery of America by Columbus^ 
It is my opinion that the poor Indian — naturally a noble 
race of men — have been most shamefully and wickedly 
abused and mistreated. 

I will give just one instance that came under my ob- 
servation, as an illustration. In Oregon City I became 
acquainted with a man by the name of Angel. About the 
time the Rouge River gold mines were discovered and 
began to be worked, Mr. Angel concluded to remove 
there. Previous to his removal, as I was talking with 
him in relation to the matter, he said he was the owner 
of a good rifle, and that Indians were quite plentiful in 
the Rouge River country. He said he intended to shoot 
the first Rouge River Indian that he should see after his 
arrival at that place. 

I had some argument with him in regard to the justice 
or propriety of committing such an act, but he persisted 
that his mind was fully settled, and he would certainly 



WITH COMPASS AXD CHAIN IN OREGON '^IT 

do that deed, provided he should have an opportunity. 
When I was fully convinced that he was truly in earnest, 
or appeared to be so, I said to him, that should he do 
as he said he would do, and murder an innocent, un- 
offensive Indian in cold blood, it was my wish that he 
would also be shot by an Indian. 

Mr. Angel removed to Rouge River, and I later learned 
that he shot three or four Indians at different times, 
while he was standing in his own doorway, and that he 
made a boast of it, but that he was killed during the 
Rouge River Indian outbreak. Provided I had the truth 
of the matter, I certainly believe he received his just 
deserts. Poor Mr. Angel! 

We had a pleasant time w^iile engaged upon the 
Umqua contract, and after it was completed we returned 
to Oregon City. Mr. Elder paid me $185 a month for 
the time I was employed, nearly five months. 

One incident that I failed to relate in its proper place 
I will insert here. When writing in relation to the wopk 
on the contract in the winter of 1852-3, I wrote that I 
sent the campman to Albany, where he hired two men. 

One of these men had had very sore eyes, from which 
he had not fully recovered. He said it was his opinion 
the disease was contagious, as he believed he had con- 
tracted it from another person. A short time previous 
to the finishing of that contract, one of my eyes felt as 
though some foreign substance was in it. I endeavored 
to remove it, but with no good results. The eye soon 
became inflamed and troubled me badly. Within two or 
three days later the other eye was affected in a similar 
manner as the first. They were in bad condition and 



218 THE GOLD SEEKERS OF '49 

troubled me much. After I had completed the contract 
and went to Oregon City my eyes did not improve, but 
steadily grew worse. I could not bear the light without 
pain, and many times in the evening after the hotel was 
lighted, it caused me such suffering I would go outside 
and walk the dark streets. In the morning my eyes 
would be fairly glued together, and it would be impos- 
sible for me to open them until I had removed the sticky 
substance and open them with my fingers. 

I applied to the English physician I have previously 
mentioned, and he gave me some salve, which he directed 
me to apply at night. I applied it as directed. It 
seemed almost like putting fire into my eyes. After I had 
applied it for two or three nights, my eyes instead of' 
improving, as I had reason to suppose they would do, 
became worse, and in the morning after I had succeeded 
in getting my eyes open I threw the box of salve into 
the street. From that time my eyes began to improve. 
I wore colored glasses for a time to protect them. 

\\'hen I left Oregon City for the Umqua with Mr. 
Elder, although my eyes had improved some, they were 
very sensitive to light. They continued to improve, but 
when I commenced work they troubled me greatly. I 
could see double — that is, I could see two objects where 
there was only one. Suppose I was looking at a man 
some distance away, I would seem to see two men, in- 
stead of one. 

However, my eyes continued to improve slowly but 
steadily, and at length regained their normal condition, 
so far as my sight was concerned. Still it was a long 
time before they became strong, so as to bear any ex- 



WITH COMPASS AXD CHAIN" IN OREGON 219 

cessive light without causing me pain, and it is my 
opinion they were never quite so strong after that time 
as they had been previously. 

At the presidential election that took place in Novem- 
ber, 1852, Franklin Pierce of New Hampshire was 
elected president of the United States. This caused a 
change in the national administration from Whig to 
Democratic. After I arrived at Oregon City from the 
Umqua valley, Mr. Preston said to me that he supposed 
that Mr. Pierce would send a man there to take his place 
as surveyor-general, and that he would be removed from 
the office. He also said that as I had been crowded out 
of a contract in the previous spring, which I was really 
entitled to, he would give me my first choice of a con- 
tract from any of the lands at that time available to be 
surveyed. 

After we had examined the plans, I selected for a 
contract the country west of the Willamette River, in- 
cluding the Long Tom valley. The contract was dated 
September 19, 1853, and included the survey of the 4th 
standard parallel south of range 5 and 6 west, the town- 
ship lines of townships No. 16, 17 and 18, south of range 
No. 5 west, and 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18, south of range 
No. 6 west, or so much of these as was suitable for 
settlement, estimated at 396 miles, at $12 per mile. The 
west line of some of these townships ran into the coast 
range of mountains,. and included some lands that were 
unfit for cultivation. This was the largest single con- 
tract, as I believe, that had been awarded to any deputy 
in Oregon. It proved to be a good contract, notwith- 
standing I had some very difficult township lines to sur- 



220 THE GOLD SEEKERS OF ^49 

vey in the mountains. Instead of the surveys amounting 
to 396 miles, there were 486 miles of surveys. In mak- 
ing the surveys of the public lands the deputy contracts 
to do the work at a certain price per mile; employ and 
pay his own help, and also pay all expenses. We paid 
help at that time each by the day and paid for the time 
only that we were able to work, on account of good or 
bad weather. 

As soon as practicable after the contract was signed, 
I made up my party and left Oregon City, September 
23» 1853. My party consisted of A. M. Addington and 
Granville Blake, chainmen, and John E. Boyd and 
Joseph Hawkins. All were from the western states. 

I began work on the survey September 28. The' 
w^eather was fair for the most part until the 13th of 
October, and it was not very stormy and bad through 
November. 

The west line of the west tier of townships for nearly 
its entire length, or thirty miles, was in the coast range 
of mountains. It was very difficult to survey. The spurs 
and ravines made it up or down nearly the whole dis- 
tance. Much of the way it was very steep. The moun- 
tains were heavily timbered. To survey these lines it 
was necessary to pack some provisions and take along. 
When night came we would build a fire, and after par- 
taking of such eatables as we had managed to carry with 
us, lie down to sleep. To survey the two lines of a 
township in this broken country usually kept us in the 
mountains three or four days at a time, and we would 
carry with us provisions sufficient to last that length of 
time. Each one would carry his own pack. 



WITH COMPASS AXD CHAIN IN OREGON 221 

Before the middle of October we had completed the 
lines of the three townships of range 5, which was in a 
fine country to survey, and had made some progress upon 
the other range. In cloudy weather we worked upon 
the subdivisions. There was considerable cloudy and 
rainy weather in November, while December proved still 
worse. I completed the subdivisions of the three town- 
ships of range 5, and on December 9th went to Marys- 
ville and copied my field notes, as the weather was so 
cloudy and stormy that I could not work to any advan- 
tage. I returned from Marysville December 21, and 
worked a few days, when there came a snow storm. The 
snow fell to the depth of ten or twelve inches and it was 
light and dry like a New England snow in mid-winter. 
It cleared away cold, and we had really a New Hamp- 
shire winter for about two weeks. The snow blew and 
ice formed over the streams and other exposed waters 
six or eight inches in thickness. This was a very un- 
usual occurrence for Oregon. 

This state of affairs continued for more than two 
weeks, or until the 27th of January, when it became 
warm, and the snow soon melted away. 

During the cold spell we could do no work at survey- 
ing, but keep ourselves as comfortable as possible in 
our tent. 

In December and January we worked only twenty- 
seven and one-half days. February was a better month, 
but we had some stormy weather. 

I finished the contract April 21, 1854, just seven 
months from the time of its date. We worked 133 days on 
the field work and averaged very nearly three miles for 



222 THE GOLD SEEKERS OF '49 

each working day. After the contract was completed 
we started for Oregon City, leaving all the camp equip- 
page, blankets, etc., with a man near Albany, going by 
the Willamette on a steamer. When I arrived at Oregon 
City, Colonel Gardiner was in the office as the new sur- 
veyor-general of Oregon Territory, Mr. Preston having 
been deposed during the winter. Mr. Preston had re- 
mained in the place and had opened a private land office. 
Colonel Gardiner was a good man in his place, but he 
knew very little in regard to the public land surveys. 
As Mr. Preston was a practical engineer and surveyor, 
it was a poor exchange in a practical sense. 

I copied and returned my field notes and plats to the 
office. At this time, my friend, Mr. Elder, had returned 
to his home in Illinois, and Mr. James E. Freeman had 
gone to California and was employed on the public sur- 
veys there. After my work on the field notes and maps 
was completed, which kept me busy for a considerable 
time, I was one day near the Willamette below Oregon 
City a short distance picking some strawberries for 
pastime, when a gentleman accosted me and inquired if 
my name was Webster. I replied that it was. He said 
he was agent for some coal mines on Bellingham Bay, 
at the north end of Puget Sound, near the British 
boundary and opposite to Vancouver Island. He repre- 
sented a company in New York, and had come to Oregon 
City for a surveyor to go there and make a survey of 
the land upon which the mines were located. He went 
to the surveyor-general's office, where I had been recom- 
mended to him, and he asked me if I would go with 
him and do the work. 



WITH COMPASS AND CHAIN" IN OREGON 223 

I agreed to do the job, which was a matter of a few 
days' work only, after we should have reached the place. 
He was to return to Olympia, situated at the head of 
Puget Sound, immediately, where I was to meet him. 

I started on the trip June nth, and went down the 
Willamette to Portland in a steamer. From Portland I 
boarded another steamer and traveled down the Willa- 
mette and Columbia Rivers about 70 miles to the mouth 
of the Cowlitz River. From this point I went up the 
Cowlitz River in an Indian canoe, propelled by two or 
three Indian men with poles, about 35 or 40 miles, as 
far as the Cowlitz Farms Landing. From Cowlitz Land- 
ing I rode horse back 50 or 60 miles to Olympia, at the 
head of Puget Sound, where I arrived June 16. 

At Olympia I learned the agent had gone ahead down 
the Sound, and had left instructions for me to follow 
with the mail carrier to Alki Point, near the present site 
of Seattle, about 60 miles from Olympia, where he pro- 
posed to meet me. 

We left Olympia in the afternoon in a small skiff, and 
made a landing at Steilacoom for the night. This was 
about 20 miles from Olympia. Upon reaching Alki 
Point early the next morning I met the agent, who had 
engaged three Indians with a large Indian cedar canoe 
to take us to Bellingham Bay, which I believe was about 
100 miles northerly. 

On leaving Oregon City I had heard of an Indian out- 
break at Puget Sound, and I learned that there had been 
an attack at Bellingham Bay. I was advised to abandon 
the trip, but I had resolved to keep ahead. 



224 THE GOLD SEEKERS OF '49 

Two other men, friends of the agent, went with us 
from Alki Point (Seattle), which, including the three 
Indians, made seven in our party. After leaving Alki 
Point we encountered some dangerous experiences with 
our canoe on the Sound and got thoroughly drenched 
with water several times, but the Indians succeeded in 
keeping the cedar canoe right side up. 

At length we reached Bellingham Bay, which I believe 
was the same location where the city of Whatcom, 
Washington, is now situated. When we arrived we 
found five or six men, which was all the inhabitants then 
residing in that vicinity. They occupied a small log 
cabin, which was the only building within many miles. 

This was the exact location where two men of the 
same party had been killed by the Indians a short time 
previous. The door of the cabin was literally riddled 
with bullets. 

The trouble had been with the Indians from up the 
British coast, near Fort Snelling. It was a very intel- 
lectual tribe of red men, who were tall and well pro- 
portioned, with a skin almost as white as many of the 
white race. 

A number of the Indians had been employed for a 
considerable time at one of the sawmills along the sound, 
and had been very satisfactory laborers, when for some 
cause they concluded to quit work. The proprietor 
refused to pay them the amount due at that time unless 
they should continue. A dispute arose, when the pro- 
prietor drew his revolver and shot one of the Indians 
dead on the spot. The other Indians immediately left 
for their homes. This caused the trouble. 



• WITH COMPASS AND CHAIN IN OREGON 225 

The chief of the tribe fitted out a war party and they 
came down the coast to the sound in large war canoes, 
and at once created a general alarm at the settlements 
all along the sound. These war canoes were made from 
giant cedar logs, and neatly and elaborately ornamented. 
Some were of sufficient capacity to carry 50 warriors, 
each one with a paddle. 

The men at the coal camp at Whatcom had heard of 
the danger and had taken the precaution to keep out a 
guard at night, two at a time. They supposed the 
Indians would approach them by water in case they made 
an attack, consequently they adopted the plan of keeping 
guard in a boat, anchored a short distance from shore. 

On the night of the attack, two men were on guard 
in the boat as usual, when the men in the cabin heard 
shots at the landing, only a few rods distant. Thoroughly 
alarmed they took to the brush for safety. The Indians 
fired many shots into the house, but the men had made 
their escape. The two men on guard were supposed to 
have been surprised and killed, but their bodies had not 
been discovered when I was there. One evening about 
sunset we heard much shooting out in the bay, but it 
was too far away for us to see so as to ascertain the 
cause. We supposed it to be a w^ar party of the Indians, 
which was later learned to be the fact. They were ex- 
changing shots with some men in boats. 

That night we expected an attack at our exposed camp, 
and we were all armed and prepared to defend ourselves 
as well as possible under the conditions. But they did 
not trouble us and we heard nothing further from them 
during our stay. 



236 THE GOLD SEEKEES OF '49 

I completed the survey as was desired. As I now re- 
member I surveyed two square miles of land, on which 
the coal mines cropped out. After the surveys were com- 
pleted we left Whatcom on our return, and arrived at 
Steilacoom on the evening of the 3d of July, 1854. Here 
we celebrated Independence day and remained until the 
5th, after which I returned to Oregon City over the 
same route I had traveled when on my way out, having 
been absent about twenty-eight days. 

After my return Colonel Gardiner, the surveyor-gen- 
eral, offered me the work to finish the remainder of a 
contract somewhere in the northern part of the territory, 
upon which a deputy had been at work and had failed 
to finish it. So far as I was able to learn in regard to 
it, it was located in a rough, brushy, timbered country, 
and was not a desirable piece of work. 

Yet, as I learned, the deputy who first took the con- 
tract and undertook to do the work, did not attend to 
his business as he should have done, which was probably 
the real cause of his failure. 



CHAPTER XL 

HOMEWARD BOUND 

I was satisfied that I could make the work pay me 
some profit, but it was not a very desirable contract. 
Still, if I refused to accept this offer from Colonel 
Gardiner, I could not afterwards consistently ask him 
for a better contract. If I should accept it and finish 
the work, I might later be in a position to receive a 
better offer from him. The most desirable country in 
Oregon, lying west of the Cascade mountains, had al- 
ready been surveyed, or was under contract. 

At first I was undecided which course to pursue. It 
seemed to be a turning point in my life. Should I engage 
to do the work, I might perhaps remain in Oregon for 
years to come, and possibly never return home. At that 
time it was about five years and three months since I 
had left home, and I had learned that the longer the- 
absence was continued, the less strong my desire to re- 
turn. But I soon came to a decision to go back to my old 
New Hampshire home, if for nothing more than a visit. 

I thought that perhaps this was as good an oppor- 
tunity to do so as would offer itself in the near future. 
Consequently, I made arrangements with Mr. Preston 
to draw the money for the balance of the surveys for 
which I had not yet been paid, and to forward the same 
to me at Hudson, N. H., my home. After having been 
a resident of the territory of Oregon for some more than 

227 



228 THE GOLD SEEKERS OF '-iO 

three years, I left Portland for San Francisco in the 
steamer Columbia, which was the same vessel that 
brought me to Oregon. 

To convey a faint conception of the many vicissitudes 
of the surveyors employed in making the surveys upon 
the public lands of the United States in sparsely settled 
regions, I will relate two or three incidents from many 
similar experiences which occurred while I was engaged 
upon the public surveys of Oregon. 

One morning while making surveys of township lines, 
previous to leaving camp I gave the campmen their 
orders (I had two at that time) to move the camp during 
the day six miles east, or as near that point as they could 
find wood and water for camp purposes. 

We were to start from the township corner that 
morning, and survey a line due east. Provided it should 
prove a good country for surveying, we could nearly or 
quite reach the opposite township corner, a distance of 
six miles, where I had ordered the campmen to pitch 
camp. 

This was in the late autumn when the days were sliort, 
and at that season we took no lunch with us. The usual 
time for us to finish breakfast and leave camp in the 
morning was as early as sunrise. 

On the day mentioned, our line was principally through 
a timbered and brushy country, so when night came we 
had completed but three and one-half miles. 

Just before it began to grow dark, we left the survey 
and started east, expecting to find our camp within two 
or three miles. We had traveled about that distance 
when we came to a wagon trail or road, the course of 



HOMEWARD BOUND 229 

which was nearly north and south, and near which was 
plenty of wood and water. We hallooed, as w^as our 
custom, to attract the attention of the campmen, but re- 
ceived no reply. 

Under ordinary conditions we could be heard at least 
one mile, and sometimes, when conditions were more 
favorable, nearly or quite two miles. As we heard no 
reply from the campmen, we followed the road south 
about three miles, but could hear nothing from our camp. 
We then retraced our steps to the point at which we 
first intersected the road, and followed it in the opposite, 
or northerly direction, for about an equal distance, but 
could hear no reply to our calls, when we felt certain the 
camp could not be in that direction. 

We again retraced our way to about the point at 
which we had at first intersected the road. We had 
seen no house on that day. 

It was then about eleven o'clock at night. I saw^ a 
place by the roadside where there was an abundance of 
dry wood, and I said to the party that I should camp 
there for the night. They all concluded to adopt a 
similar course. We started a good blaze and remained 
near it until morning. 

When morning came we started to find either our 
camp or some house. One of the men went with me, 
and we traveled in a southerly direction. The two other 
men went in another direction. 

About ten o'clock in the forenoon we came to a small 
cabin. We entered it and found a man there who was 
living alone. I asked him if he could prepare something 
eatable for us, as we had eaten nothing since early in 



230 THE GOLD SEEKERS OF '49 

the morning on the day previous. He replied he was 
alone and that he could do nothing for us. I said to 
him: "Have you any provisions of any kind about your 
house?" His reply was that he had a little. I said that 
"we must have some of such as you have," and that if 
he did not produce it for us himself we would help 
ourselves to such as we might be able to find about the 
house. He at once kindled a fire and prepared us a din- 
ner, but it was near noon before our meal was in readi- 
ness. Previous to the time our dinner was in readiness 
the other two men made their appearance, and they had 
become so much exhausted and faint for the want of 
food, they had been eating the barks and roots of trees. 

The next day I commenced work again without look- 
ing for camp any farther, but selected a line in another 
direction, which was through a country with settlements. 

We worked three or four days, stopping at the houses 
for accommodations at night, before we heard anything 
from camp. Then the campmen found us, and I after- 
wards learned, although they would not admit it at that 
time, that instead of going six miles east, they traveled 
six miles south, and camped about nine miles from the 
point where they were ordered to go. 

On another occasion, at the time I was engaged in 
running a party for Mr. Elder, upon going to camp one 
evening when it was nearly dark, we followed a line into 
a brushy bottom, to correct a quarter section post that 
had been set on a random line by the other party at work 
for Mr. Elder. One man accompanied me, who was 
present with the other party when the post was located. 
We followed the surveyed line and found the post with- 



HOMEWAED BOUND 231 

out difficulty, and made the necessary correction, mark- 
ing witness trees, etc. 

At that time we knew the location of our camp, as it 
was not to be removed on that day. It was not more 
than a mile distant in a straight line. To follow the line 
back, upon which we had come, until we should reach 
the open land, and then go to camp would double the 
distance to be traveled. 

The man with me proposed to take the short cut 
through the brush, and claimed to know the way as he 
had been over the same route with the other party. It 
was becoming quite dark, and I consented to his leader- 
ship, against my better judgment, which was something 
I seldom did, to follow another in the woods. 

The route was very brushy, with much fallen timber, 
and being quite dark, our progress was slow. We con- 
tinued to travel, making our way through the tangled 
brush as best we could. At length we came to a sm.all 
river, from which we drank some water, and where we 
rested for a short time. 

It being dark, it was impossible to read the bearing 
from the instrument. It was my opinion that we had 
not traveled altogether in a direct line. My companion 
desired to cross the stream, but I was convinced that 
we were on the same side as was our camp. 

We again started and traveled until about eleven 
o'clock, previous to which I had utterly abandoned all 
hope of reaching camp on that night. As we came to 
a tall white fir tree, I said to my companion that I 
should camp under that tree for the night, as I believed 
we had traveled in a circle, at least to some extent, and 



232 THE GOLD SEEKERS OF *49 

there was no possibility for us to reach camp before day- 
light. He didn't agree with my opinion, and he claimed 
we had traveled nearly in a straight line. He thought 
that we must be near camp, and left me, expecting to 
reach camp within a short time. 

I climbed the tree, probably to a height of nearly lOO 
feet, to break off some twigs, on which to lie down for 
the remainder of the night. I remained in the tree for 
a considerable time, listening to the noise that came from 
my companion as he made his way through the brush. 
His progress was slow, as ours had been, and I could 
distinctly hear the brush crack, but instead of keeping 
a straight line, as he supposed he was doing, he soon 
began to bear away to the left in a curved line. He 
continued to circle to the left, but not for once did he 
pass beyond my hearing. 

In about three-quarters of an hour after he left me, 
I could hear him approaching from nearly the opposite 
direction from that in which he had started. I de- 
scended the tree and awaited his approach. When he 
had reached a point within a few rods of me, he 
hallooed. I answered his call. He seemed surprised and 
came to me. His first question was how I came there. 
It was some time before I could convince him of the 
fact that I had remained during his absence at the same 
place where he had last parted from me. 

He thought he had traveled in a straight line, and 
when he first heard my voice in answer to his call, he 
believed he was almost in camp. When he became con- 
vinced that he had passed around in a circle, and had 
made no progress toward camp, he seemed to be sat- 



HOMEVV^iED BOUND 333 

isfied to remain with me until morning. The next morn- 
ing I led the way to camp without any difficulty, where 
we arrived shortly after breakfast time, having been 
without food for some more than twenty-four hours. 

These are sample or specimen cases, and many other 
similar, more or less varied experiences could be related, 
if space would permit, such as sleeping out in the moun- 
tains in the winter season, with one blanket only, with a 
cold drenching rain falling all through the night. I have 
awakened to find myself completely covered with snow 
two or three inches in depth, with the exception of my 
face. 

At that time there were roaming in the coast and 
cascade ranges of mountains and valleys numerous wild 
animals, such as grizzly and black bears, cougars or 
mountain lions, wild cats, gray wolves and coyotes, deer, 
moose and many other species of animals. There were 
also two or three kinds of rattlesnakes. 

Sometimes we would approach within sight of one pf 
the animals, which would seem to be pleased to increase 
its distance between us as rapidly as possible. They are 
savage, ferocious animals when aroused, but when they 
are respected and passed at a distance without being in- 
terfered with in any way, they are seemingly not to be 
feared. To keep peace with them, their rights as mon- 
archs of the forests should always be respected. 

In San Francisco I met Mr. James E. Freeman, who 
was about to start on a survey of the public lands of 
California, and he desired me to assist him in doing the 
work. He offered me a salary of ten dollars per day and 
board for the entire time we should be absent from San 



234 THE GOLD SEEKERS OP '49 

Francisco in completing the work of the contract. I 
considered that to be a very liberal offer, and I hesitated 
before declining it. However, as I had made a start for 
home, and my mind had been fully decided in that di- 
rection, I concluded not to make a change. 

I also found my uncle, Alfred Cummings, in San 
Francisco, occupied with carpenter work, and he had 
concluded to go home with me. 

San Francisco had greatly increased in size and pop- 
ulation, and had improved its condition during my ab- 
sence. I remained there eight or ten days awaiting the 
departure of a steamer for Panama. 

We left San Francisco near the end of July and took 
passage on the steamer Yankee Blade. Before reaching 
Panama the coal became exhausted, and we landed on 
a small, uninhabited island, where wood was cut and 
carried aboard the vessel in boats for fuel, in order to 
complete the voyage. We were then within two or three 
days sail of Panama. 

In due time we reached Panama, where we landed and 
remained over night. At that time the Panama railroad 
had been completed from Aspinwall to a point about nine 
miles distant from the town of Panama, and near the 
summit of the isthmus. We left Panama the next morn- 
ing, riding on mules, which were provided us by the 
steamship company, anticipating that we would reach 
Aspinwall, on the Atlantic shore, and board the steamer 
for New York that evening. 

We reached the end of the railroad without any undue 
delay, and boarded a train of cars for Aspinwall, but 
from some cause or causes, to the passengers unknown, 



HOMEWAED BOUND 335 

there were many delays, and our progress on that day 
was quite discouraging. We were sidetracked for the 
night, but a few miles distant from the point of starting, 
and the engine left us, word being given out that the cars 
would not move until morning. I procured something to 
eat at a small restaurant, and slept for the night upon 
the table at the same place. In the morning we supposed 
we were to go directly through to Aspinwall, but similar 
delays to those experienced the day preceding occurred, 
and when night came we were again sidetracked only a 
few miles distant from the place we spent the night pre- 
vious, and at a distance from any place where we could 
procure refreshments. The patience of the passengers 
had become almost exhausted. 

There were no conveniences for sleeping in the cars. 
They were full of passengers and the atmosphere was 
very bad, caused by poor ventilation. 

Some time during the early part of the night I went 
to the rear platform of one of the cars and laid dawn 
and soon fell asleep. This was a platform I supposed 
the passengers would not use to pass over when going 
out or into the cars. 

During the night some one in passing out in the dark- 
ness came in contact with me, which caused me to awake, 
and I spoke to him. He told me if I should continue to 
lie there in the night air, with no covering, I should 
almost certainly contract the deadly Panama fever. I 
replied that I would take the risk, and again fell asleep 
and enjoyed a very comfortable rest for the night. The 
next day the train took us through to Aspinwall with but 
little delay. 



23G THE GOLD SEEKERS OF '49 

What caused the necessity to detain several hundreds 
of passengers in a train of cars for three days and two 
nights while traveling a distance of less than fifty miles, 
and where there was very little accommodation for re- 
freshments or sleep, I could never comprehend. 

At Aspinwall we boarded one of the steamers for New 
York. We had a fine passage to New York, where we 
arrived without any undue delay. 

We remained in New York over one night, when we 
proceeded on our journey home, where we arrived near 
the last of August, 1854, after an absence of a little more 
than five years and four months. 



ADDENDA. 

THE DISCOVEEY OF GOLD. 

There are conflicting accounts as to who was the real 
discoverer of gold in California. Long before its actual 
existence was known the country was pictured as a mar- 
velous Eldorado. As early as 1524 Cortes was given a 
dazzling description of a ''wonderful island in the Pacific 
exceedingly rich in pearls and gold." Drake said in his 
journal, "tlie country seems to promise rich veins of gold." 
The native Indians claimed that gold existed among the 
streams, and in 1766 Jonathan Carver wrote with a spirit 
of prophecy that "probably in the future ages the land may 
be found to contain more riches in their bowels than those 
of Indostan." So account after account is given premis- 
ing the existence of the precious mineral, until in 1847 
Capt. Charles Bennett discovered gold near Sutter's mill, 
while there in partnership with James W. Marshall, who 
has since been credited as its discoverer. Bennett has a 
marble shaft standing in the Odd Fellows' cemetery at 
Salem, Ore., stating that he was the ^'Discoverer of Gold in 
California, and Fell in the Defense of His Country at 
Walla Walla," in 1855, fighting the Indians. MarshaU 
has a more pretentious statue at Coloma, Cal., proclaiming 
him as the discoverer of the yellow nugget that started the 
stream of golden wealth from the Pacific slope, which was 

237 



238 ADDENDA 

to pour into the cliannels of trade in the TJnited States 
nntil nearly two billion of dollars can be traced to the 
beginning of the hardy Argonauts who panned the first 
free gold. This story would not be complete without men- 
tion of the fact that another claimant as discoverer of the 
precious mineral was a young woman by the name of 
Emma Bonney, who was spending the winter of 1345-6 in 
the vicinity of Sutter's port. As the United States had 
not then acquired a title to the coimtry, her discovery was 
not heralded abroad and nothing came of it. 

Until 18-17 California had remained a part of Mexico, 
and w^as very sparsely settled. At that time, with the ex- 
ception of a small settlement of Mormons established by 
Brigham Young in July, 1847, on the shore of Salt Lake', 
Utah, the country between the Missouri line, near Fort 
Independence, and the Sacramento valley, a distance of 
more than two thousand miles, was an almost unbroken 
wilderness, without civilized inliabitants, and spoken of as 
the "Great American Desert." As every schoolboy knows, 
or ought to know. Col. John C. Fremont was the real con- 
queror of California, and inmiediately the treaty was 
signed, which made it a part of the United States, the 
discovery of gold was proclaimed to the world, and instan- 
taneously the invasion began. 

Not alone to Fremont and the Gold Seekers belongs the 
entire credit of conquering California and transforming it 
into a wonderland. Before the doughty Pathfinder had 
found his way hither the sloop of war Portsmouth, built at 
the Kittery navy yard just opposite of the city, whose name 
the gallant vessel was to bear, in 1843. She sailed from 



ADDENDA 239 

rortsmoiith December 9, 1844, to Join the squadron of 
Commodore J. D. Sloat in the Pacific, where she arrived 
in season to participate in the Mexican War. On July 9, 
1846, her crew under command of Lieut. J. S. Missroon, 
landed at Yerba, Buena, as San Francisco was then known, 
and took possession of the town, raising for the first time, 
the American flag over California. 

Not all of the Gold Seekers of '49 went overland, as Mr. 
Webster and his party did. Considerable debating was 
done at the time as to which was the best route; around 
Cape Horn with its storms and vicissitudes, to say nothing 
01 the longer period of time required to make the passage; 
across the Isthmus of Panama, with its vexatious delays 
and constant dangers from tropical diseases; or by the 
Overland Trail, which seemed to promise a more speedy 
arrival at the destination, though that was fraught with 
great peril from hostile redmen and the hardships of cross- 
ing an unknown country. 

While naturally of a different experience the story of 
thosB who w^ent to the Land of Gold around Cape Horn is 
not less interesting than that of those who performed the 
tedious and terrible trip across the plains. Besides the 
perils of the deep to be met and overcome were the suf- 
ferings from scurvy and other complaints belonging to a 
life on the sea in those days. After all those who fared 
worse were the ones who tried the middle route to find 
themselves stranded in a tropical country unable to find 
ways and means of crossing the stretch of land lying 
between the oceans. Some tried the journey on foot, to 
perish by the way or reach the western shore, only to find 



I 



240 ADDENDA 

tiiemselves no better off as far as continuing their course to 
the hoped-for Eldorado; many were finally obliged to seek 
passage on some homeward-bound ship, without having 
realized their dreams. 

Whichever way they went, upon their arrival in the gold 
fields the mines proved a wonderful leveler of the classes 
of men. No distinction of rank was known there. 
Lawyers, doctors, ministers, men who wore kid gloves and 
tall hats in the East, were glad to dig in the trenches with 
ihe lowliest of laborers, all working for the same reward, 
the golden talisman of fortune. Unable for any reason, 
to succeed in the mines, some sought other ways of earning 
a living, if not a fortune, and so the schoolmaster sawed 
firewood, the erstwhile judge of an eastern court catered to 
a hungry crowd, while some business man performed the 
part of a cook, so Avild were the pranks fate played upon 
tjjese fortune-seekers. But if few came back rich, as 
wealth is reckoned, all helped to found in power and 
prestige the glory of the Pacific Slope. 



